Greek Church spent $147 million on charity, social services in 2016

Meeting in its second session of the month yesterday under the presidency of His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens, the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church heard a report detailing that the Church spent more than $147 million on its social welfare and charity ministry works in 2016, Romfea reports.

The report covers the entire Greek Church, including the archdiocese of Athens and the holy metropolises of the Church of Greece. The amount spent, covering all the needs and operating costs of the Church’s institutions was 124,416,599.67 € ($147,057,932.48).

Among the Church’s ministries listed in the report are a general philanthropic fund, mental health centers, home care, hospitals, asylums, nurseries, schools, special needs schools, scholarships, blood banks, and much more.

For one example, the Greek Orthodox Church-runs a boys’ hostel in Athens which has been caring for child refugees from Afghanistan, Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, and Syria since 2011. Though the hostel’s EU funding was recently suspended, the shelter was given new life by donations from various British Christian organizations earlier this year.