Greek Orthodox Commander in Chief Would Be a First : Episcopal Church Leads List of Presidential Religious Ties

If George Bush becomes President, he would be the 12th Episcopalian to hold that office, more than of any other denomination. If Michael S. Dukakis wins, he would be the first Greek Orthodox in the Oval Office.

Both are lifelong members of their faiths.

A regular churchgoer, Bush is a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Houston. He also is a close friend of evangelist Billy Graham, who spends time with Bush each year at his summer home in Kennebunkport, Me.

There, Bush is a vestrymen at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church, as well as maintaining active participation in the Houston congregation. In Washington, he attends various Episcopal churches, including the National Cathedral.

In his family, faith was a “given,” he has written. “God just was, there was no debate about it.”

Frequent Worshiper

Dukakis is a lifelong member of Annunciation Cathedral in Boston, a regular contributor and frequent worshiper there, attending on major holidays and sometimes on Sundays.

“He comes as often or more often than some other members,” said the cathedral dean, Father Athanasian Demos. “It’s not as often as I wish. I’d like everyone to be here every Sunday.”

Under church rules, Dukakis is formally barred from taking communion because of his marriage to a non-Christian--his wife Kitty is Jewish--but this is regarded a pastoral issue between worshiper and priest.

George Stephanopoulos, a Boston spokesman for Dukakis, said: “The governor considers himself a religious man and close to the church. Religion is not something he takes lightly.”

Archbishop a Personal Friend

He is a personal friend of Archbishop Iakovos, primate of Greek Orthodoxy in the Americas. Iakovos had been pastor of the Boston cathedral when Dukakis was a boy in Sunday school and his parents were active members.

The archbishop, whom Dukakis calls his “spiritual father,” has often counseled him over the years and met and prayed with him since he began his campaign for the presidency.

His wife, who does not attend services with him, recently told the Atlanta Jewish Times:

“We have mutual respect for the other in terms of the right and privilege to practice their religion as they see fit, and we’ve done that.

“I think I’m a stronger Jew for having married out of my religion. I feel very strongly about my ethnic and religious background, and that has not diminished.

‘Shared in the Richness’

“Michael feels very strongly about his religious background, and we made a decision before we were married that we would raise our children with both.” They “have shared in the richness of both our heritages.”

Dukakis has drawn occasional jabs from within Orthodoxy for not condemning abortion and for his marriage to a Jew. He was called an “apostate” by Republican policy analyst James G. Jatras, a Greek Orthodox.

However, the Greek Orthodox community generally has seemed widely supportive of Dukakis. The archbishop, while refraining from political endorsements, has strongly affirmed Dukakis’ steady churchmanship.

The candidate has encountered opposition and frequent picketing by anti-abortion forces. Like many other politicians, he says he personally opposes abortion but doesn’t want to impose that position on others.

Against Capital Punishment

He also has opposed tuition tax credits for students in private or religious schools, and is against capital punishment.

Bush, on the other hand, favors capital punishment and tuition tax credits, and would outlaw abortion except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest.

He also wants daily prayer in the public schools and required recital of the Pledge of Allegiance.

These positions have gained him strong support from some evangelicals, including longtime backer Jerry Falwell.

After a meeting with a group of evangelical leaders in July, former Southern Baptist President Adrian Rogers of Memphis, Tenn., said, “I appreciate very much the Bush campaign reaching out to evangelicals.”

However, before the current campaign, Bush at times has criticized some fundamentalists for trying to “impose their will and dictate their own interpretation of morality on the rest of society.”

Bush Expressed Annoyance

Once, when pressed by an evangelical interviewer about whether he has had a “born-again” conversion experience, he said, “Yes, I believe in Jesus and I have accepted him as my personal savior.”

However, he expressed annoyance at those who demand that all Christians must know the exact day and hour their conversion occurred.

11 Episcopalians

Of the nation’s 38 Presidents to date, there have been 11 Episcopalians, six Presbyterians, four Methodists, three Congregationalists (now United Church of Christ), two Unitarians, two Dutch Reformed, two Baptists, two Quakers, two of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and one Roman Catholic.

Two, including one of the most deeply religious Presidents of American history, Abraham Lincoln, and the man who succeeded him after his assassination, Andrew Johnson, never affiliated with any denomination.