A report
published by the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs states that there
were 147 attacks against religious sites around Greece in 2015. The report,
published for the first time, was aimed at raising awareness on issues of
religious discrimination and violence, according to Education Minister Nikos
Filis.
Specifically,
the report points to 137 attacks aimed at Orthodox places of worship, one
against a Catholic sites, four against Jewish sites and three against
Muslim-related sites.
Filis
released the report in the wake of an occupation of a site benchmarked for the
construction of a mosque. Police evacuated the site on Friday, detaining 15
people demonstrating against the creation of a place of worship for muslims.
“It’s high time our country acquires the ways,
methods and procedures, so as to be able to speak without fear and passion,”
said Filis. He said that mutual respect and religious freedom are fundamental pre-requisites to achieve peace
within society and national cohesion.
