Greek Orthodox Church Officials See Salary Hikes, Ordinary Priests Excluded

The salaries of the highest-ranking officials within the Greek Orthodox Church have been officially published, placing them on par with state secretaries. This new regulation, effective July 1, affects archbishops, metropolitans, and bishops, but notably excludes ordinary parish priests.

Under the new framework, the monthly gross salary for the head of the Church, Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece, active metropolitans, and titular metropolitans will be set at 90% of the monthly gross salary of a general secretary at the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, which is 5,191 euros. This amounts to 4,671.90 euros.

Salaries for titular and auxiliary bishops have been fixed at 70% of a metropolitan's salary, totaling 3,270.33 euros gross per month. A significant change accompanying these salary adjustments is the discontinuation of all other financial benefits previously provided to clergy. This means that additional payments related to performances, travel, participation in councils, committees, or synodal bodies, as well as any other financial support, will cease.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis presented the new regulation as a long-standing request from the Greek Church, arguing that the salaries of metropolitans should not be significantly lower than those of other public officials given their administrative roles. However, critics have raised concerns about the timing of these increases amid societal pressures on households and the exclusion of ordinary priests who perform the bulk of daily pastoral work.