Bid to Drop IDs’ Religion Entry Stirs Greek Anger

Central Athens rang with chants, hymns and avowals of faith Wednesday as hundreds of thousands of Greek Orthodox rallied in the capital against a government plan to remove a religion entry from state identification cards.

The faithful, including scores of black-robed Orthodox priests, chanted “Greece means Orthodoxy!” hoping to stop what they see as a first step toward the separation of church and state.

“First they will take religion off the IDs, then they will take the cross off the Greek flag, and religion will not be taught in schools. Enough is enough,” the head of the Greek church, Archbishop Christodoulos, said from a podium at Syntagma Square, which overlooks Parliament.

“We are here to shout that our faith isn’t negotiable . . . the church once again leads the nation,” Christodoulos told the crowd, which stretched through much of the city’s center.

He said about 800,000 people joined in the protest, although police sources estimated that 150,000 to 200,000 people took part.

Greece’s pro-European socialist government has vowed to replace the handwritten IDs now issued by police.

The new cards will not include information on religion, a change that the government says would protect the rights of Greece’s small Muslim, Jewish and non-Orthodox Christian minorities.

Government leaders have accused the church, which has staged two rallies within a week on the issue, of trespassing in the political arena.

Greece formally became the 12th country to join the European Union’s single currency at the EU summit in Portugal on Tuesday, and government officials said the rally took the country many years back after that step forward.

The church has said the religion entry on the IDs should be optional and has called for a referendum. Prime Minister Costas Simitis responded that the issue was closed.