Dr. Evi Voulgaraki is a Lecturer in Missiology in the Department of Social Theology and Religious Sciences at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has completed graduate studies in Greece and Germany, specializing in missiology and interfaith and ecumenical relations. Dr. Voulgaraki completed her doctorate at the University of Thessaloniki with a thesis titled, Approaching the Pagans According to John Chrysostom. At the University of Athens, she teaches courses on missiology, Christianity and modernity, and interfaith relations, among others.

The following interview touches on different strands of modern Orthodox theology, church-state relations in Greece, the impact of international relations with the West, Russia, Israel and the broader Middle East, ecumenical and interfaith dynamics, and modern sexuality. The interview was conducted by Dialogue Across Borders editor Luka Renić.

Excerpts

LR: Thank you for your time. I would like to ask you questions on a few different topics—modern theology in the Greek Orthodox Church, church-state relations in Greece, religion and the challenges of modernity, ecumenical relations, and relations with Islam. To start with theology, could you highlight any particular theological movements that have shaped contemporary Greek theology?

EV: The last major theological movement emerged in the 1980s, and they pushed for a return to the patristic tradition. This was pretty significant, because up until then, all the theological faculties were structured very strictly around the German academic model, and we had, in a way, learned to look down on our own tradition. There was this big movement to rediscover the Church Fathers. It also had some anti-Western undertones—not completely anti-Western, because, of course, we still relied on critical patristic editions that were produced abroad and we were in dialogue with the West on theology, politics, human rights and broader philosophical and social ideas—but it was definitely tied to exploring our own identity, sometimes in contrast to what we felt was an imposed Western identity. At first, it was a very lively and interesting development, and as long as it was led by people with solid academic training, it stayed on track. But eventually, it became more of a populist movement, where some priests would say, "This is the patristic tradition," and then claim whatever suited them, attributing it to the early Fathers. They tried to guide people into a monastic-style spirituality based on obedience, and that really led to a decline. Now, even though academic theology is active—and we’re engaged internationally, helped 2 by the internet and easier communication—ordinary people are still mostly influenced by Mount Athos or by local priests. In many places today, Greece is seeing a revival of fundamentalist tendencies. There’s definitely a more conservative wave after religion’s comeback in the 1990s, and to me, it seems very closely connected to political issues and the political use of religion

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LR: How has the church in Greece handled matters of gender and sexuality, such as same-sex marriages?

EV: Same-sex marriage was introduced very abruptly, from the top down, and it wasn't passed by the votes of a parliamentary majority. It was pushed through with the support of members of the opposition. At the same time, we also had some political turbulence, because an openly gay man became the leader of the left-wing opposition. He had grown up in the U.S. He left Greece at age twelve and didn’t really have a deep understanding of the local context. Even his Greek was sometimes hard to follow. He came with his partner, and they had already married in the U.S. before the law was passed in Greece. Then they publicly said they wanted two children—one from his sperm and one from his husband’s—both boys, born through a surrogate mother. That really angered the Greek public. It wasn't just conservatives—feminists were also outraged—partly because of the idea of selecting the sex of the children, and partly because surrogacy was framed as using women as mere "wombs," as tools.

LR: What year was this?

EV: It happened just two years ago—it’s very recent. They didn’t allow any real time for public discussion of the legislation, and I felt it was an insult to our democratic institutions. And it’s not that I’m right-wing; I actually believe everyone should feel safe in society and have equal rights. But we didn’t appreciate the way it was done. For example, they presented it as "marriage equality," but it wasn’t marriage equality—it was a redefinition of marriage. You can’t compare apples and oranges and say that they’re the same. I felt completely colonized, culturally speaking. It coincided with a period of very aggressive cultural pressure on Greece, where anything connected to Russia was supposed to be erased. But we have cultural ties that go back centuries—we have the whole Cyril and Methodius tradition. Are we supposed to voluntarily cut ourselves off from all Slavic Christianity? These are serious issues, and they can’t be resolved by people dictating decisions from above or by embassies telling us what to do.

LR: So, would you also relate this imposition or introduction of same-sex marriage to these Western colonial efforts to impose the whole Western sphere of thought onto Greece?

EV: Yes, I see it that way, even though I’m a democratic person, and I really don’t like discrimination. Before that, we experienced a harsh harmonization of our legislation with EU directives, although this was at times unconstitutional and even devastating. International cooperation is fine, but you cannot ask the people to renounce sovereignty. There has to be more respect.