Abstract
There are approximately 300 million members of the Greek Orthodox Church worldwide. It is the second-largest Christian church. Followers of this religion believe in eternal life. Thus, the church strongly emphasizes a positive outcome in death— “the deceased is alive with God.” God is believed to be the healer of our souls and bodies, which is facilitated through prayer and participation in the life of the Church. Traditional medical interventions are generally accepted. Artificial life support is justifiable only when it offers a hope for meaningful recovery. Just as death should not be hastened, the natural dying process should not be prolonged. Timely advance care planning and early treatment goals discussions to help understand how the patient would define quality of life is paramount to setting limitations on what could be considered as nonbeneficial care. The medical team should not assume that all patients of the Greek Orthodox faith will feel the same around end-of-life beliefs and practices. This chapter aims to identify common themes and the historical contextual framework that may influence the way in which medical decision making is made by those who specifically subscribe to the Greek Orthodox faith.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bulow HH, Sprung CL, Reinhart K et al (2008) The world’s major religions’ points of view on end-of-life decisions in the intensive care unit. Intensive Care Med 34:423–430. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-007-0973-8
Cross, FL, ed. (2005). “The Great Schism.”
Danforth LM (1982) The death rituals of rural Greece. Princeton University Press, UK
Fitzgerald, Fr. Thomas (2014). “Spirituality”. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Harakas S (1982) Contemporary moral issues facing the Orthodox Christian. Light and Life Publishing Co, Minneapolis
Hatzinikolaou N (2003) Prolonging life or hindering death? An Orthodox perspective on death, dying and euthanasia. Christ Bioeth 9:187–201. https://doi.org/10.1076/chbi.9.2.187.30284
Hierotheos, Metropolitan of Nafpaktos (1998), The mind of the Orthodox Church, Levadia, Greece: Birth of the Theotokos Monastery, ISBN 978-960-7070-39-5
Holland J (2018) Northwest Florida School of Biblical Studies Twenty Sixth Annual Lectureship. EPub: ISBN 978-0-9998252-1-1, The Great Schism. pp. 203–206,www.nwfsbs.com/assets/an-examination-of-religious-history-33-to-1500-ad2.pdf#page=203
Ikonomidis BD (1965–1966) The grief of the deceased in Greece. Athens: Research Center of Greek Folklore Athens Academy
Kitroeff A (2020) The Greek Orthodox Church in America: a modern history. Cornell University Press, United States
Levin PD, Sprung CL (2003) Cultural differences at the end of life. Crit Care Med 31(5 Suppl): S354–7. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.CCM.0000065275.30220.D2
Makrides V (2009) Hellenic temples and christian churches: a concise history of the religious cultures of Greece from antiquity to the present. NYU Press, United Kingdom
Matusiak Fr J (2014) Original Sin. Orthodox Church in America
Mystakidou K, Parpa E, Tsilika E, Katsouda E, Vlahos L (2005) The evolution of euthanasia and its perceptions in Greek culture and civilization. Perspect Biol Med 48:95–104. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.2005.0013
Nicolaidis E et al (2016) Science and Orthodox Christianity: an overview. Isis, 1. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full, https://doi.org/10.1086/688704.
O’rourke D (2007) Mourning becomes eclectic: death of communal practice in a Greek cemetery. Am Ethnol 34(2):387–402
Pentaris P (2012) Death in the modern Greek culture. Hawaii Pacific Journal of Social Work Practice. 5:126–131
Romain M, Sprung CL (2014) End-of-life practices in the intensive care unit: the importance of geography, religion, religious affiliation, and culture. Rambam Maimonides Med J 5(1):e0003. Published 2014 Jan 21. https://doi.org/10.5041/RMMJ.10137
Rose FS (1980) 1980. The Soul After Death, St. Herman Press, Platina, CA, c
Schaff P (2007) The longer catechism of the orthodox, catholic, eastern church, an orthodox catechism from 1830, by Metropolitan Philaret. Archived July 3, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
Spiridakis GK (1972) Greek folklore/popular culture of modern Greeks. Greek Folklore 3:159–172
Sprung CL, Maia P, Bulow HH et al (2007) The importance of religious affiliation and culture on end-of-life decisions in European intensive care units. Intensive Care Med 33:1732–1739. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-007-0693-0
Tomkinson JL (2003) Between heaven and earth: the Greek Church. Anagnosis, Athens
Vitsikouras G (1999) The meaning of death according to Saint Gregory of Nyssa (in Greek). Epektasi, Athens
Ware BK (1991) The Orthodox Church (revised original ed.). New York: Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0-14-013529-9
Ware K (1993) The Orthodox Church. Penguin Adult. p. 322.ISBN 978-0-14-014656-1
Wilson N (ed) (2006) Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece. Great Britain and US: Taylor & Francis Group
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Bitar, H.N. (2023). Greek Orthodox. In: Banerjee, C. (eds) Understanding End of Life Practices: Perspectives on Communication, Religion and Culture. Cancer Treatment and Research, vol 187. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29923-0_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29923-0_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-29922-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-29923-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)