Department for Ecclesiastical Administration - Competences

The Department for Ecclesiastical Administration is responsible for:
a) The establishment, abolition and merger of Holy Metropolises,
b) The control and supervision of the financial management of other ecclesiastical legal entities of the Orthodox Church of Greece, the Orthodox Church of Crete and the Holy Metropolises of the Dodecanese,
c) The recognition, status and resignation of the Archbishops of the Churches and Holy Metropolises,
d) The supervision and implementation of the provisions of the law regarding all types of ecclesiastical personnel of ecclesiastical legal entities,
e) The establishment, merger, abolition, re-establishment, renaming and conversion of Parishes, Holy Churches, Holy Monasteries and Hermitages, as well as the supervision of their operation,
f) The expression of an opinion concerning the expropriation of real estate for ecclesiastical purposes,
g) The establishment of Fundraising Committees for the conduct of fundraising campaigns in favor of Holy Churches outside the boundaries of the prefecture,
h) The supervision and implementation of the provisions of the law regarding the parish clergy, monks and other administrative personnel of the Orthodox Church of Greece, the Orthodox Church of Crete and the Holy Metropolises of the Dodecanese,
i) The drafting of a proposal to meet the annual staffing needs in parish clergy and other administrative personnel of the Orthodox Church of Greece, the Orthodox Church of Crete and the Holy Metropolises of the Dodecanese,
j) The drafting of a proposal to meet the annual needs for permanent personnel and fixed-term private law personnel of the Panhellenic Holy Foundation of the Evangelistria in Tinos,
k) The transfer and secondment of primary and secondary school teachers, as well as administrative employees of Ministries, legal entities and first- and second-level local government bodies to the Holy Metropolises,
l) The monitoring, on a quarterly and annual basis, of personnel changes concerning the parish clergy and ecclesiastical employees (appointments, transfers, responses to inquiries regarding the existence of vacant permanent positions in the Holy Metropolises, transfers, reclassification of clergy), pursuant to Law 4957/2022 and Presidential Decrees 14/2023 and 15/2023, as well as the establishment of a specific number of permanent clergy positions,
m) The implementation of the provisions of article 79 of Law 5043/2023, as amended and in force, concerning the issuance of a Joint Ministerial Decision- Donation between the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports and the competent co-signing Ministry, in order to implement donations to ecclesiastical public law legal entities for the erection, construction, repair and expansion of places of worship or religious monuments,
n) The implementation of the provisions of article 266 of Law 5259/2025 (A’ 228) concerning the conversion of public benefit foundations into ecclesiastical foundations,
o) The implementation of the provisions of article 336 paragraphs 16–19, article 347, paragraph 14 and article 348, paragraph 13 of Law 4957/2022, in order for the legal consequences (salary reduction, vacancy of a permanent position) to ensue,
p) The handling of any other related matter.