Greek Bible Society given high profile
on television

ATHENS, Greece — The Greek Bible Society has established a very positive working relationship with the Orthodox Church over recent years. Indeed, it believes that this relationship has been one of the main factors behind the great success of the Bible in modern Greek, launched in 1997 and already reprinted three times.

Many ordinary Greeks, some 96 per cent of whom belong to the Orthodox Church, may not have been aware of its links with the Bible Society until May, however. This was when the country’s most popular Sunday religious television programme devoted its entire one-hour slot to the work of the Bible Society. This programme, which is also broadcast in Cyprus, and, via satellite, across the world, is hosted by Bishop Ignatios of Dimitriada, Chairman of the Bible Society’s Assembly.

The show featured board members Professor Miltiadis Konstantinou and Professor Georgios Galitis, along with General Secretary Michail Chatzigiannis. They talked in some detail about the work of the United Bible Societies, but their conversation focused mainly on the activities of their own Bible Society. Appearing on the programme offered a valuable opportunity to inform ordinary Greeks about the Society’s translation projects and its distribution work, especially within the context of collaboration with the Orthodox Church.

The public profile of the Bible Society is also being raised through its links with the Olympic Games taking place in Greece in 2004. Bishop Ignatios officiated at the inauguration ceremony for the Office of the Organising Committee in Volos, one of the cities in which Olympic events will be held, and Volos will also be the location for a multimedia Bible exhibition during the Games. Other initiatives being planned by the Society include distributing 35,000 copies of a special Olympics New Testament. (WR 381/3 - 11.03)