Following revelations brought to light by Proto Thema based on official Education Ministry employee complaints that the director of the National Organisation for Certification of Skills & Career Guidance (EOPPEP), Eleni Giannakopoulou had allegedly thrown an icon of the Virgin Mary into the rubbish bin and attempted to strip an employee of a cross from her neck on the eve of the celebration of the Virgin Mary on August 15, the leader of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop of Athens Ieronymos, sent a letter expressing his concerns to the Ministry of Education. In the letter Archbishop Ieronymos expressed the Holy Church Synod’s regret and protestation to the fact that the rights of two employees to exercise their religious freedom in public spaces by wearing symbols of their Christian faith had been violated.