The Cremation (Burning) of Bodies, According to the Church of Greece
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou
Various people ask me what the “official” decision of the Church of Greece is regarding the cremation of bodies. Certainly, some clergy have expressed their views on this matter and these have appeared in the media and on social networks; however, what matters is the decision of the Church of Greece itself, both from a theological standpoint and with regard to the pastoral consequences.
1. The Holy Synod has dealt repeatedly with this timely issue. On March 3, 1999, it organized a conference at the Caravel Hotel on the theme: “The Cremation of the Dead: Findings and Prospects for a Better Pastoral Approach to the Issue.” It was organized by the Synodal Committee on Dogmatic and Canonical Issues of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece.
The opening address was delivered by Metropolitan Nikodemos of Patras, President of the Synodal Committee on Dogmatic and Canonical Issues. The introductory address was given by the late Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Christodoulos. This was followed by an address by the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Mr. G. Floridis, and presentations by: Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou, on “The Theological View and the Ecclesiological Consequences of the Cremation of the Dead”; Anastasios Marinos, Vice-President of the Council of State, on “The Cremation of the Dead and the Constitution”; Panagiotis Christinakis, Professor at the Theological School of the University of Athens, on “The Cremation of the Dead: A Canonical–Legal Consideration”; Archimandrite Nikolaos Chatzinikolaou, President of the Special Synodal Committee on Bioethics, on “The Today, the Yesterday, and the Forever of Burial and Cremation of the Dead”; Protopresbyter Stylianos Karpathiou, theologian and psychiatrist, on “The Cremation of the Dead: A Reference to the Psychology of the Phenomenon”; and George Mantzaridis, Professor at the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki, on “The Cremation of the Dead from the Perspective of Christian Anthropology and Ethics.”
Discussion followed and conclusions were issued. The Press Release of the Holy Synod of the Church of Greece stated, among other things: “With strong theological, historical, social, and other arguments, the Church rejects the cremation of the dead and defines its faith and its respect for the human person and, by extension, for the human body.”
2. In many of my writings I have developed the subject of the burning of the dead—or rather, more precisely, the cremation of bodies (burning is one thing, cremation another)—with regard to the theological approach to cremation and its ecclesiological implications, the manner in which cremation is carried out, and its impact on the environment, among other issues. This shows that the matter is very serious from theological, ecclesiastical, and ecological perspectives.
3. On May 12, 2010, at an Extraordinary Session of the Holy Synod of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece—the Church’s supreme body—under the presidency of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Hieronymos, His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki presented the topic “Cremation of the Dead: A Challenge of Pastoral Responsibility and Witness.” Many hierarchs took part in the discussion, and the Hierarchy decided to adhere to its previous decision, which is as follows:
1. For Orthodox Christians, the Church recognizes and recommends burial as the sole manner of the decomposition of the dead body, in accordance with her holy teaching and her age-old tradition.
2. The Church has no objection to the cremation of the dead for heterodox Christians and those of other religions.
In addition, it was decided that “for special cases concerning the issue of cremation of the dead, each of the Metropolitans shall judge and decide, according to his pastoral discernment, within his diocese. In order to facilitate the hierarchs, it was decided that a special small committee of hierarchs would determine the basic criteria to be taken into account in addressing special cases, which would be discussed at the next meeting of the Hierarchy.”
This committee consisted of Metropolitans Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou, Nicholas of Mesogaia and Lavreotiki, and Dionysios of Corinth.
The committee convened and, taking into account both the presentation of Metropolitan Nicholas of Mesogaia and the Minutes of the Hierarchy, which recorded the views of the Metropolitans, we discussed the matter for many hours and drew up a specialized text titled: “Handling (with exactness and with economy) Cases of Christians Who Wished Their Bodies to Be Cremated.”
In this text, for the handling of the matter with both exactness (akriveia) and pastoral economy (oikonomia), the criteria to be considered by hierarchs who might choose to apply some economy were recorded. The criteria were divided into two categories: those on the basis of which the performance of a service might be permitted, and those that determine the manner in which the service would be conducted.
It is a thorough text that includes both exactness and economy, in detailed fashion, for addressing this issue.
As President of this three-member committee, I read the prepared text at a session of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece in October 2010. No decision was taken on the text—whether it was acceptable or not, or whether it should be modified—but it was decided that it be made available to the hierarchs so that they would know the specific criteria when deciding on the application of economy.
It is self-evident that the decision of the Hierarchy of May 12, 2010, mentioned above, continued to be in force.
4. Four years later (October 29, 2014), the Standing Holy Synod, under the presidency of His Beatitude Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Hieronymos, in view of the new legislative framework on the cremation of the dead, according to Articles 48 and 49 of Law 4277/2014 (“New Regulatory Plan for Athens–Attica and Other Provisions”, Government Gazette 156/1-8-2014, Series A), addressed the matter at its session of October 14, 2014, and decided by Encyclical (2959) to inform the Most Eminent Metropolitans “of the canonical consequences of the cremation of the dead.”
The Encyclical states:
“With Articles 48 and 49 of Law 4277/2014, the legislator does not take into account the religious beliefs of the deceased. If the deceased had not expressed during his or her lifetime a wish regarding burial or cremation of the body after death, cremation may take place solely on the basis of a declaration by the spouse or ‘partner’ with whom a ‘civil partnership’ has been concluded, or by a declaration of first- or second-degree relatives.
This—an offspring of the contemporary nihilistic way of life and of the tendency toward the de-religionization of every aspect and expression of human life—constitutes from the outset a violation of the religious beliefs of the departed member of the Church, and a lack of respect and care for the human body.
The Church does not accept the cremation of the body for her members, because the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), an element of the hypostasis of the human being created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:24), and she surrounds it with respect and honor as an expression of love for her departed member and as a manifestation of faith in the common resurrection of all.
Accordingly, the Standing Holy Synod decided, within the framework of its vigilant pastoral care, to inform its pious flock—clergy and laity—of the following canonical consequences of the cremation of the body:
– The cremation of the body is not in accordance with the practice and tradition of the Church for theological, canonical, and anthropological reasons.
– In order to avoid any theological, canonical, and anthropological deviation, it is necessary to respect religious beliefs and to ascertain the personal will of the departed, and not the will or declaration of his or her relatives.
– One who has demonstrably and voluntarily declared the wish for the cremation of his or her body declares thereby his or her autonomy, and as a result no Funeral Service or Memorial Service is performed for him or her.
Nevertheless, the performance of a simple Trisagion is left to the pastoral prudence and discretionary judgment of the local Metropolitan.”
As far as I know, this is the latest decision of the Church issued by its synodal body. Everything else written on this subject consists of individual opinions.
Source: Ekklesiastiki Paremvasis (January 12, 2026). Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
