[Kratylos]

Arne it is strange that after so many visits in Greece you have those questions.
Of course i can not give a complete answer to your questions in a short post of a forum.
But generally i would suggest a trip to the past of Greece and especially to the centuries of Rome and Byzantium where the foundations of the christian faith in the greek world were laid. A trip back to the holy scriptures, to the greek language, to the first apostles who embraced the evangelical word.
The orthodox church throughout the ages has maintained a continuity of faith with the apostolic community which was founded by Christ and sustained by the Holy Spirit.
The connection is so strong that nothing has managed to break it these 2 thousand years, not even the very hard and cruel years of ottoman occupation. Actually it was the church who managed to keep us alive those tough years..
You can find hundreds of books,articles, etc. in the internet just by googling.
Without having at least a small background in the history of Greek world after the birth of Christ it is impossible to understand the very strong ties between the greek society and the orthodox church today.
The last 20-30 years though the church is under attack from various "secular" movements (with the support many times of the media) it still keeps its very important position in the society, and that is because you can not force (not even with tricks) people to change their faith.
We saw what happened in areas like Russia (and generally the former soviet block) where they tried a brutal eradication of the christian faith.
They failed completely.
I wish you a good day and greetings from Greece
Kratylos


PS: The primary role of the church is to save the souls of all the people, and not just to do some charities. This is a common misconception for many people who ignore the orthodox tradition. The church is not a ministry of social affairs. Of course it will help the poor and the patient and the person who is in need, but this is together with the most important thing , which is to prepare us for the Kingdom of God.

PS:And since in few days we will celebrate the sacred Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (tis Panagias /koimisis tis Theotokou 15 August) (which marks her repose followed by the translation of her sacred body three days later into heaven) i want to wish to all the friends of Kalimera forum Chronia Polla και η Παναγία Βοηθειά σας!