STUDIA TEMATYCZNE STUDIA Z PRAWA WYZNANIOWEGO Tom 20 – 2017 NIKI PAPAGEORGIOU*1 THE LEFT AND THE CHURCH IN GREECE: THE AMBIGUITY OF POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS DOMAIN RELATIONSHIPS 1. INTRODUCTION In January 2013, the Department of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki organized a conference on the topic “the Church and the Left.” The announcement of the Conference caused a sensation and provoked a lot of questions such as: “What could the Church discuss with the Left?,” “How could the Left lead a dialogue with the Church?,” “What do the two fields have in common?” On the one hand, the Left was expected to express its well known political positions on the separation of Church and State and on the restriction of the Church in the private sphere, questioning, or even not recognizing, the dynamics of the religious field in the Greek public sphere. On the other hand, the Church was expected to adhere to a traditional under- standing of State and Church relationships and defend the current status quo that guarantees its position in the Greek public space in various ways. In brief, the conference was expected to juxtapose the new and the old, the progressive and the conservative, i.e. to line up the Left, * Dr, Department of Theology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, University Campus, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece, e-mail:
[email protected] 104 NIKI PAPAGEORGIOU a progressive political power, opposite the Church, a traditional/conser- vative institution. The Conference was admittedly successful and brought together, through public