Greek court rules worship of ancient Greek deities is legal
{{date|March 27, 2006}}

Greek court has ruled that worshippers of the [[w:Ancient Greek religion|ancient Greek religion]] may now formally associate and worship at archeological sites.

Prior to the ruling, the religion was banned from conducting public worship at archeological sites by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Due to that, the religion was relatively secretive.

The [[w:Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox Church]], a [[w:Christianity|Christian]] denomination, is extremely critical of worshippers of the ancient deities. 

Today, about 100,000 Greeks worship the ancient gods, such as [[w:Zeus|Zeus]], [[w:Hera|Hera]], [[w:Poseidon|Poseidon]], [[w:Aphrodite|Aphrodite]], and [[w:Athena|Athena]].  The Greek Orthodox Church estimates that number is closer to 40,000.

Many [[w:neo-pagan|neo-pagan]] religions, such as [[w:Wicca|Wicca]], use aspects of ancient Greek religions in their practice; [[w: Hellenic polytheism|Hellenic polytheism]] instead focuses exclusively on the ancient religions, as far as the fragmentary nature of the surviving source material allows.

{{wikipediapars|[[w:Polytheistic reconstructionism|Polytheistic reconstructionism]] and [[w:Hellenic polytheism|Hellenic polytheism]]}}

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?catid=124&newsid=85091&ch=0&datte=2006-03-25
|title=Greeks Can Worship Ancient Greek Deities 
|author=
|pub=FocusiNews
|date=March 23, 2006}} (Radio Svoboda)

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[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Greece]]
[[Category:Europe]]
Greek court has ruled that worshippers of the ancient Greek religion may now formally associate and worship at archeological sites.

Prior to the ruling, the religion was banned from conducting public worship at archeological sites by the Greek Ministry of Culture. Due to that, the religion was relatively secretive.

The Greek Orthodox Church, a Christian denomination, is extremely critical of worshippers of the ancient deities. 

Today, about 100,000 Greeks worship the ancient gods, such as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Aphrodite, and Athena.  The Greek Orthodox Church estimates that number is closer to 40,000.

Many neo-pagan religions, such as Wicca, use aspects of ancient Greek religions in their practice; Hellenic polytheism instead focuses exclusively on the ancient religions, as far as the fragmentary nature of the surviving source material allows.


:Discussions related to this Wikinews story can be found at:  Fark
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