The Catholics of the Cyclades
There are approximately 12,000 Catholics in the Cyclades, or 10 per cent of the 120,000 inhabitants. The archipelago is organized as a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical province and has three dioceses. The Diocese of Syros and Milos has about 6,800 faithful, mainly in Syros, where they represent a quarter of the island's population. The Archdiocese of Naxos, Tinos, Andros and Mykonos has a total of 4,000 Catholics, of whom about 3,000 are in Tinos, i.e. 35% of the island's population, the highest proportion of Catholics in Greece. Finally, some 450 people belong to the diocese of Santorini. The Orthodox Church is organized in two metropolises (bishoprics): that of Syros, which covers most of the archipelago, with its seat in the cathedral of St. Nicholas of Ermoupoli, in Syros, and that of Santorini, which also has jurisdiction over Anafi, Ios, Amorgos and the Lesser Cyclades.
Catholic Communities
The Catholics of the Cyclades live in their own neighbourhoods in the main towns: around the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (1823) and the Dominican convent of Fira (Santorini), near the co-cathedral of the Presentation of Christ in Naxos or around the Cathedral of St. George in Syros. The latter was founded around 1200 and rebuilt in 1834. It is located on the hill of Ano Syros, in Ermoupoli, and faces the Orthodox cathedral of St. Nicholas, which dominates the other hill of the prefecture. In Tinos, the Catholics are present in Chora and "own" several villages in the south-east of the island, such as Loutra (35 inhabitants), where the Ursuline convent (1862) traditionally welcomes young girls from good families from all over the country. Not far away, Xinara (40 inhabitants) is the second "capital" of the Catholics of the Cyclades after Ermoupoli. There is a church and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary (1870).
Cohabitation
The Greek Orthodox, who are in the majority, live in harmony with their Catholic compatriots in the Cyclades. In Tinos, there are many mixed villages where both communities have their own church, as in Ktikados, Steni and Kardiani. In order not to stand out, the Catholics of the archipelago follow the Byzantine liturgical calendar. They celebrate Easter at the same time as all Greeks, whereas Catholic and Orthodox Easter are often staggered by several weeks. However, Catholics are discriminated against. They are discredited and sometimes seen as heretics, but less so than Protestants. They are still frequently called "Franks" (Frangi), a pejorative term that recalls the difficult period of Latin occupation (Frankokratia) in the Middle Ages. But the main inequality concerns public support: while Orthodox priests are paid as civil servants by the state, Catholic clergy have to fend for themselves and struggle to attract vocations.
Catholics elsewhere in Greece
There are about 200,000 Roman Catholics in the country. Of these 50,000 are Greek and are concentrated in Athens and the Cyclades. There are also communities in Thessaloniki (4,000 people), in the Ionian Islands (3,800), in Crete (3,500), in the Dodecanese (1,500) and in Chios (500). Foreigners are mainly present in Athens and come from Poland and the Philippines. There are also two Catholic communities which recognise the Pope but whose rites are similar to those of the Orthodox (marriage of priests, worship of icons, etc.). First of all, there are about a thousand Armenian Catholics, mainly Greek citizens living in Athens and Thessaloniki. And about 6,000 people belong to the Hellenic Greek Catholic Church, founded in the 15th century: mainly Greeks, Ukrainians and Bulgarians, in Athens, Macedonia and the Cyclades. This Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite also has faithful in Turkey, but also in Cargese, Corsica, where Greek exiles from the Magne (Peloponnese) settled in the 17th century.
Pilgrimages to Tinos
Tinos is considered the "Lourdes of Greece": an important place of miracles and Christian pilgrimages. On August 15, two feasts are held in Tinos, linked to the cult of Mary, the mother of Christ. Since 1830, the Orthodox celebrate the Panagia Evangelistria ("All-Holy Bearer of Good News") in the large church of the same name at the top of the main town. It is the largest pilgrimage in Greece, normally attracting about 50,000 people for the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Such is the devotion that most of the faithful walk the half mile from the port to the church on their knees. Catholics have been meeting on the same day for the feast of the Assumption since the 17th century at the church of Panagia Vrisiotissa ("All Saints of the Springs" or "Whoever Appeared"), above the beach at Agios Romanos, 9km northwest of the main town. The worshippers here are mostly residents of Tinos and are much less numerous than at the Orthodox pilgrimage to Panagia Evangelistria. But it is still the largest Catholic gathering in Greece. Apart from the fact that they take place on the same day on the same island, both pilgrimages have their origins in the same belief in the discovery of a miraculous icon of the Mother of God.
Orthodox monasteries
Dominated by Venetian lords and Catholic clergy from 1205 onwards, the Cyclades have only three Orthodox monasteries from the Byzantine period: Panagia Panachrantos (10th century) on Andros, Prophet Elias (1154) on Sifnos and, most impressively, Panagia Chozoviotissa (11th century) on the cliffs of Amorgos. But the archipelago returned to Byzantine traditions under the Ottoman era (1537-1832). The sultans then entrusted the power to the Greek Church: while the influence of Rome declined, the islands were covered with Orthodox monasteries. Among these, the monastery of St Pantaleon (16th century) in Kea, the Panagia Chrisopigi (17th century) in Sifnos, and the Panagia Tourliani (1542) in Mykonos are noteworthy.
