ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to present the influence the
Greek Orthodox Church has on matters of Education Policy in the Modern Greek
state, especially on Science Education. Historically, since its foundation, the
Greek state is closely linked to the Orthodox Church, which is the institution
of orthodox Christianity, the official religious dogma of the Greek state as it
is explicitly mentioned in the Greek Constitution. Since the foundation of the
Modern Greek state, nearly two centuries ago, the Orthodox Church plays a key
role in every aspect of general policy, and especially in educational policy.
It is characteristic that religious affairs and education are governed by the
same ministry, the Ministry of Education, Research and Religions, and orthodox
priests are public employees enjoying the status of civil servants.
Historically, this interlink of the Church with the State can be easily
explained by the privileged relation the patriarch had with the sultan in the
Ottoman empire, a status that continued to exist in a different form in the
epoch of the Modern Greek state. Due to its privileged position in the state
apparatus, the Orthodox Church and its multitude of official and unofficial
organizations could control the educational policy and especially the national
curriculum. This control is more obvious in science education. The aim of this
paper is to present the influence the Greek Orthodox Church has on matters of
secular education policy in the Modern Greek state, especially on the
curriculum of natural sciences. Here, we don’t refer to the parallel secondary
education system organized by the Church, which is another point of
confrontation between the Greek Orthodox Church and the Greek state in several
occasions.