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*[[Apostoliki Diakonia]]
*Hieromonk [[Nikephoros Theotokis]] (d. 1800) Greek: Νικηφόρος Θεοτόκης; Russian: Никифор Феотоки, born in Corfu. "Teacher of the Nation"
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website=[http://www.ecclesia.gr/ Church of Greece]
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The '''Church of Greece''', also called the '''Greek Orthodox Church''', is one of the fourteen [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] churches of the Orthodox Christian communion, whose territory consists of the whole of Greece except for those parts which belong to the [[Patriarchate of Constantinople]], such as the Dodecanese and [[Archdiocese of Crete|Crete]]. Though bishops of the "new lands" (those that were liberated from 1912 and afterward) are members of the [[Holy Synod]] of the Church of Greece, they commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople in the divine services. Though it is also called the '''Greek Orthodox Church''' this reference is not restricted to the Church of Greece since it is also used by some of the Churches and Archbishoprics under the Patriarchate of Constantinople around the world.
The current [[primate]] of the Church of Greece is His Beatitude [[Ieronymos II (Liapis) of Athens|Ieronymos II (Liapis)]], Archbishop of Athens and All Greece.
===Stage 2: The Medieval Period===
Following three centuries of underground existence and persecution in the Roman Empire, it was again the Greek Church, the Greek language, and Greek [[missionaries ]] that carried the Christian message in both the East and the West. This first period ended in 313 with the edict of toleration, where [[Constantine the Great]] divided the Roman Empire and prepared the way for Christianity to become the state religion of the later Roman and Byzantine empires. The geographical area we know today as Greece constituted the diocese of Eastern Illyricum, which was self-governing.
For historical and other reasons, the Greeks for many centuries identified themselves solely as Christians and especially during the centuries of captivity under the Turks<ref>The tradition of the Greek Church has been one of religious toleration rather than nationalism. If this had not been true, the Greek Church, in the Byzantine centuries and especially during the four hundred years under the Turks, could have Hellenized all the minorities under her aegis or at least a great majority of them.</ref>. This is significant that although the patriarchs of Constantinople and many bishops of the Bulgarians, Albanians, and Slavs were Greeks during the Ottoman period, they did not attempt to Hellenize their congregations: neither did they try to force them to abandon their liturgical traditions and cultures.<ref> The Greek historian K. Paparigopoulos, known for his patriotism, blamed the Church for not exploiting here numerous opportunities to Hellenize the various Balkan peoples in a period of four hundred years, something she could have done without much difficulty.</ref>
===Stage 4: The Modern Period===
[[Image:Patrik-Rum.jpg|right|thumb|Contemporary map of the Ecumenical Patriarchate's jurisdictions in Turkey and Greece.]]
In 1864, the Ionian islands were added to the Church of Greece and in 1881 the diocese of Thessaly and parts of Epirus were also added. Also in this year, the first Greek Orthodox church was founded in America. Under an agreement made in 1908 between the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Holy Synod of Athens, jurisdiction of the churches in America was given to the Church of Greece. In 1927, the statutes regarding the Church were modified resulting in the government controlling the church and attending the Holy Synod meetings. So during the 20s and 30s, the turbulent political events in Greece divided the Greeks of America and this resulted in Archbishop Athenaogoras of Corfu to be appointed to head the Greek Church in America.
==Contemporary elders==
*Elder [[Joseph the Hesychast]] (1898-1959)
*Elder [[George (Karslidis) of Drama]] (1901-1959)
*Elder [[Gervasius of Patras]] (1877-1964)
*Elder [[Amphilochius Amphilochios (Makris) of Patmos]] (+1970)
*Elder [[Demetrius of Trikala]] (1902-1975)
*Elder [[Philotheos (Zervakos)|Philotheos (Zervakos) of Paros]] (1884-1980)
*Hieromonk [[Kosmas of Zaire]] (1942-1989)
*Elder [[Epiphanius of Athens]] (+1989)
*Elder [[PorphyriusPorphyrios (Bairaktaris) the Kapsokalivite|Porphyrios]] of Kavsokalyvia and Kallisa (1906-1991)
*Elder [[Iacovos (Tsalikis) of Euboea]] (1920-1991)
*Elder [[Paisios (Eznepidis)|Paisius the New of Mt Athos]] (1924-1994)
*Eldress [[Gabrielia (Papayannis)]] (1897-1992)
*Eldress [[Macrina of Volos]] (1921-1995)
*Blessed [[Stavritsa the Missionary]] (1916-2000)
*Papa-Dimitri GagastathiFather [[Dimitris Gagastathis]]
==Modern writers==
*[[Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos]]
*[[Apostoliki Diakonia]]
'Writers considered controversial in their point of view:
*[[Apostolos Makrakis]]
*[[Christos Yannaras]]
<!---
*[[Michael Apostolius]] (d. 1480) succeeded by Aristobulus Apostolis and Arsenius Apostolius (Bishop of Malvasia (Monemvasia) in the Morea.
*[[Nikolaos Cavasilas]] born in Thessaloniki (d.1391).
===Various News Articles===
* [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5j2Y12eShqDwoJp5WKwRcNctWAkmw "Religion is main group activity in Greece:study"] - Hosted on AFP, 23rd May 2008
* E. P. Blegen. ''Earliest Christian churches in Athens''.''' American Journal of Archaeology''' v. 50 (July 1946) pp.373-75.
* George T. Dennis. ''[http://www.doaks.org/publications/doaks_online_publications/DOP57/DP57ch12.pdf The Late Byzantine Metropolitans of Thessalonike]''. '''Dumbarton Oaks Papers''' no. 57 (2003) pp.255-64.
===Non-Orthodox ReviewsResources===*[http://www.cnewa.usorg/ecc-bodypg-usdefault.aspx?IndexViewID=alpha23&pagetypeID=9&sitecode=HQ&eccpageIDpageno=23 1 The Orthodox Church of Greece]. Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA Papal Agency ) website.
*[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/grtoc.html Library of Congress - Federal Research Division - Country Studies - Greece] (See section on RELIGION: Orthodox Church of Greece).
