A new bill by the Ministry of Finance, which is currently under public consultation on OpenGov, has sparked reactions. The bill proposes that the total monthly pay of the archbishop and metropolitans be set at 90% of the public sector’s maximum salary cap, which stands at €5,191 gross.
Currently, the archbishop’s total gross monthly pay — a basic salary of €2,740, plus €100 in representation expenses and a €75 doctoral allowance or a €45 master’s degree allowance — ranges from €2,840 to €2,915. The pay of each metropolitan ranges from €2,400 to €2,475 — a basic salary of €2,350, plus €50 in representation expenses and a €75 doctoral allowance or a €45 master’s degree allowance.
By setting total pay at €4,671.90, which is 90% of €5,191, total gross monthly pay will increase by 60.27% to 64.5% for the archbishop and by 88.8% to 94.65% for each metropolitan, according to *Efimerida ton Syntakton*.
The traditional method of calculating their salary is now being replaced by a single amount linked to the maximum pay of a ministry secretary-general.
A separate provision is included for titular bishops and auxiliary bishops. Their total gross monthly pay will be set at 70% of the pay provided for the archbishop, metropolitans and titular metropolitans. Based on the amount of €4,671.90, their pay will come to approximately €3,270.33 gross per month.
“In Greece, there is one archbishop, 80 metropolitans and around ten auxiliary bishops and titular bishops. In other words, the provision concerns about 90 people. The increase in the pay of the hierarchs has a strongly symbolic character and is obviously not fiscal,” PASOK MP Stefanos Parastatidis told *Efimerida ton Syntakton*.
Sources: Κathinerini, Εf.Sin.
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