Church Supporters Battle Athens Police

Fist fights erupted Wednesday between police and supporters of the Greek Orthodox Church as bishops held a service protesting government plans that include taking over church lands.

Thousands of church supporters shouting “Hands off our church!” and “Shame, shame!” chased police, who apparently tried to unplug a public address system relaying the service outside the Church of St. Panteleimon.

Police said there were no injuries or arrests.

The 78 bishops were boycotting an annual Independence Day service in Athens Cathedral to mark the beginning of a revolt against Ottoman rule in 1821 that led to Greece independence in 1830.

The bishops said they did not want to be in the same church as Socialist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, who has announced plans to take over 325,000 acres of church forests and meadows and give the state more power in church affairs.

Royal Lands Sought

The government is also considering taking over land owned by exiled King Constantine. Diplomats said the clash between government and church is one of Papandreou’s most serious problems in his six-year rule. “Greeks are deeply religious people, and to take on the church is a very risky business,” one diplomat said.

Papandreou, President Christos Sartzetakis and other government officials attended the Athens Cathedral service, which was conducted by a priest.

Police said that about 10,000 people jammed St. Panteleimon Church or stood outside as Archbishop Seraphim and three bishops dressed in golden robes conducted the liturgy. The other bishops wore black robes as a sign of mourning.

“The church today is in mourning,” Ienonymos, bishop of Hydra, said in his sermon. “Our holy church is raising its hands to the Virgin and pleading with her to save the nation.

“The church, which has sacrificed itself in the past for the freedom of the nation, is fighting now for its own freedom.”

Fear of Politics

The bishops say they are willing to give up their lands but object to a provision of the bill giving the state control of church administration because they fear party politics may enter the church.

Papandreou says he will distribute the land to poor farmers, but the priests accuse him of planning to give the land to supporters of his party, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement.

As the bishops filed out of the church at the end of the service, the crowds started chanting, “We are behind you, you are worthy,” and singing the Greek national anthem.

The bishops said they will march through central Athens today to back their demands that the bill be withdrawn.

The government, stung by the reaction of its move against church property, was reticent to talk about plans for taking over the king’s lands.

‘Procedure of Dialogue’

Government spokesman Yannis Roubatis told reporters that the government is pursuing “a procedure of dialogue” over the transfer of the royal property to the state.

He declined to answer further questions except to say that the economy and agriculture ministries are dealing with the matter.

The property of Constantine, 46, who now lives in London, is estimated to be worth about $40 million.

He owns a 10,000-acre estate north of Athens and a summer palace on the island of Corfu, where Britain’s Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, was born.

The former monarch lost his property under Greece’s military dictatorship after he tried to stage a coup in 1967. He went into exile in Britain, but his property was reinstated after the dictatorship fell in 1974.