Are Greek Orthodox people Greek?

The Greek Orthodox Church is the national church of Greece, where it is known as the Church of Greece, and the predominant faith among the Greek diaspora, for which it is a central marker of Greek identity. However, the Greek Orthodox Church is not restricted to ethnic Greeks or the Greek language.

Do you have to be Greek to be Greek Orthodox?

There is no such thing as Greek Orthodox. There is the Eastern Orthodox Church, that accepts people regardless of origin, ethnicity, race, nationality, language and sex.

What percentage of Albanians are orthodox?

According to the numbers given by the government in 2010 it was stated that Eastern Orthodoxy was practiced by about 20\% of Albanians within Albania. In the 2011 census the percentage of Orthodox believers was listed as 6.75\% of the population.

Who marries Greek Orthodox?

A Greek Orthodox man or woman can get married to a non-Orthodox man or woman providing they are Christian and have been baptized with water in the name of the Holy Trinity. The marriage must also take place in an Orthodox Church by an Orthodox Priest.

How many Greeks are there in Albania?

The ethnic Greek minority of Albania also holds a different view, with the most recent so-called “Greek census” in Albania by the group Omonoia, putting the number at 287,000. This census is not recognised by the Albanian government. Generally, the estimates vary between 60,000 and 300,000 ethnic Greeks in Albania.

What is the Orthodox Church like in Albania?

The Orthodox population of central and south-eastern Albania was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Orthodox Archbishopric of Ohrid, while south-western Albania was under the Patriarchate of Constantinople through the Metropolis of Ioannina.

What does the Albanian law say about the Greek minority?

The Albanian law on minorities acknowledges the rights of the Greek minority only to those people who live in the areas which are recognized as minority zones. The last census that included ethnicity, from 1989, included only the numbers of the Greek minority in the minority zones. Ethnic Greeks living outside those areas were not counted as such.

Are there any Greeks with Albanian citizenship?

Furthermore, 189,000 ethnic Greeks with Albanian citizenship reside in Greece, and are issued special identity cards. The Greek minority in Albania is concentrated in the south of the country, along the border with Greece, an area referred to by Greeks as “Northern Epirus”.