Universal Dependencies - English - GUM

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Greek court rules worship of ancient Greek deities is legal

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Monday, March 27, 2006

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Greek court has ruled that worshippers of the ancient Greek religion may now formally associate and worship at archeological sites.

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

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Due to that, the religion was relatively secretive.

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

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Today, about 100,000 Greeks worship the ancient gods, such as Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Aphrodite, and Athena.

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The Greek Orthodox Church estimates that number is closer to 40,000.

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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.