The Permanent Holy Synod of the Church of Greece of the 168th Synodal Period convened yesterday and today, Thursday 12 and Friday 13 June, under the presidency of His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens and All Greece.

The Permanent Holy Synod was informed by its Legal Service and discussed the Presidential Decree 40/2025 (Government Gazette A’ 67/2025) which establishes the Personal Number, aiming at the gradual replacement of the Identity Card Number, the VAT and the AMKA and the interconnection of the registers of the Public Sector.

It therefore informs that:

a) when people are dealing with the public sector, they will not be identified solely based on their ‘personal number’, but will continue to be asked for personal data of a registry nature (name, surname, birth data, etc.),

(b) The personal number replaces existing numbers (ADT, AFM, AMKA) already held by natural persons. Therefore, about the ‘personal number’, neither a theological reservation nor a claim of unconstitutional restriction of individual freedoms (e.g. personal data) can be raised due to the replacement of three existing registration numbers by a single number.

The IIS has ratified the Minutes of the Authorisation:

– Established the Agenda of the Ordinary Assembly of the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, convened, with God, from the 7th to the 9th of October 2025.

– Approved the proposal of the Synodal Committee on Inter-Orthodox and Inter-Christian Relations regarding the renewal of the existing scholarships and the granting of new ones for the academic year 2025-2026. The ceremony of handing over the scholarships to 98 Greek students for postgraduate and doctoral studies in universities abroad, and to 52 students of sister Churches from 20 countries for undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral studies in Greece, will take place, as every year, during the first session of the new Synodal period of the Permanent Holy Synod in September. The total amount of scholarships, which the Church of Greece will make available during the next academic year, amounts to 680,000 euros.

– Approved the proposal of the Synodal Committee on Christian Education and Youth to hold the 9th Panhellenic Conference of Youth Priests and Youth Officers of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens and the Holy Metropolises of the Church of Greece, with the theme: “Orthodox Anthropology in the Time of Artificial Intelligence”.

“The Anthropological Artificial Humanities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” in the context of the “Artificial Artificial Artificial Intelligence”.
– He was informed by the Synodal Committee on the Monastic Life, about the holding of two Monastic Workshops at the Orthodox Centre of the Church of Greece (Holy Monastery of Penteli) on June 3, 2025 and at the Educational and Cultural Foundation “Agios Gregorios Palamas” of the Holy Metropolis of Thessaloniki on June 5, 2025, on the subject: “The Anthropology of Orthodox Monasticism”.

“The Anthropology of Anthropology”.
– He was informed by the Synodal Committee on Press, Public Relations and Enlightenment about the 9th Workshop for the information of the heads of Press Offices and other persons involved in the communication of the Holy Metropolises of the Regions of Western Greece and the Ionian Islands, which was hosted by the Holy Metropolis of Patras and held in Patras on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.

– He was informed by His Eminence, Metropolitan Markos, Bishop of Chios, Psara and Inousses, about the International Scientific Conference held in Chios, from 14th to 18th May 2025, on the theme: “Evangelist Mark: Sacred and Sacred Science”.

– The Council approved the renewal of the appointment of Panos. Approved the renewal of the appointment of Archimandrite Fr. Cherubim Moustakas, Secretary of the Synodal Committee on Social Welfare, to the post of Director of the Centre for Ecclesiastical Education.

– The Council approved the appointment of Panossiol. Archimandrite Fr. Dorotheos Zervas, as the First Archimandrite of the Holy Metropolis of Ierissos, Mount Athos, and Ardamerion.

During the break of yesterday’s session His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos met with the Deputy Minister of Digital Governance, Christos Boukoros, and the Attorney of Athens, Zois Stavropoulos, and handed over to the Deputy Minister a letter from the Permanent Holy Synod regarding the pending issues of registration of church property in the Greek Land Registry.

During the break of today’s session, His Beatitude met with the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, Mr. Georgios Mylonakis, and discussed issues of common interest.

Finally, the Board approved the secondment of clergymen and dealt with issues of Holy Metropolises, Synodal Committees, and current service issues.