Greek government to issue operation licenses for old houses of worship

The Ministry of Education, Research and Religion will grant licenses to all houses of worship operating in Greece since 1955, according to a cyclical issued on Wednesday.

The move concerns houses of worship used by the Muslim minority in Thrace, northern Greece, and on the islands of Kos and Rhodes, synagogues and the churches of Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals and Copts.

According to the ministry's general secretariat of religions, which published the cyclical, the prerequisite for a license is for the religious site to have operated continuously in the same venue before August 9, 1955, when the system of issuing construction licenses was introduced.

“The act will allow the establishment and operation of the sites and bear all relevant legal consequences,” the secretariat said in a press release.

It is not clear how many religious venues will affected by this move.