condemn Golden Dawn as such, and even said that, within it, there are many serious individuals that should inally take on the role that belongs to them.141 There are, of course, also bishops who react to Golden Dawn’s activity and try to separate themselves from it and criticize it in any way they can. The interesting and worrying part, however, is not these bishops who are negative towards Golden Dawn, but those who, ignoring or partly accepting its neo-Nazi and racist background, stand by its side and support it openly in speeches and sermons. The Church as an institutional whole has not taken an oicial stance against Golden Dawn, perhaps in order to maintain the balance inside the Holy Synod, since there are those who support it as well. Although the Church in the past openly condemned letist parties and organizations, now it tries to keep a neutral stance, to the point of misunderstanding, and this is one of the reasons why it is widely criticized (Ζoumboulakis 2013: 14-15). Even ater Fyssas’ murder, the Church did not explicitly condemn Golden Dawn, and only issued a general statement of condemnation of violence, as it did ater the murder of two members of Golden Dawn as well, thus keeping equal distances.142 10/ CONCLUSION: AN ATTEMPT OF INTERPRETATION All the above show that the question whether there are ultra-right and racist perceptions inside the Orthodox Church is no longer a question. As it was stressed from the beginning, one may trace inside the Church racist perceptions and their public articulation, as well as nationalist ideological dispositions. This speech is oicially expressed in a triumphant way, and this where the problem lies: the ecclesiastical leadership itself, whenever it does not endorse it, tolerates it. The Church of Greece is like a multi-faceted power party in which everyone says pretty much what they want, while being essentially driven by power. More particularly, the administration system of the Church is synodical, very different from that of the Catholic Church, for instance. This means that control is harder. Yet the fact remains that the basic issue is the maintenance of balance inside the hierarchy, and this is why there cannot be an institutional intervention or even a condemnation regarding what the diferent bishops say. Yet why do certain bishops express ultra-right ideas without any sense of self-censorship? Why did they get to the point of supporting even Golden Dawn? The answer to this question is not easy. The Church is dedicated to protecting and serving certain principles and values that it has protected and served since old times, such as country, nation, family, property, etc. On the one hand, then, whoever is opposed and appears dangerous to these principles is fought and persecuted. On the other hand, whoever appears as their protector and defender turns into a potential ally. 141. 142. 92 | See http://mkka.blogspot.gr/2013/09/blog-post_20.html. See http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/holysynod/holysynod.asp?id=1706&what_sub=d_typou and http://www.ecclesia.gr/greek/holysynod/holysynod.asp?id=1722&what_sub=d_typou. ROSA LUXEMBURG STIFTUNG