The Greek Orthodox Church in between Greece and America
Keyword(s):
The Us
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This chapter records how the hegemony of the Greek Orthodox Church was extended during the 1940s. It reflects back on the church's close entanglement with the world of secular politics. It also assesses the astute ways that Archbishop Athenagoras courted both the Greek and the US governments in order to strengthen the status and the influence of Orthodoxy in America in the 1940s. The chapter describes the wartime conditions in the United States during the 1940s that have eroded religiosity throughout the country. It looks into Greece's entry into the war on the side of the Allies, which meant that the Greek Orthodox Church identified with the Greek nation and could openly support the homeland.