Relationship dossier
Vatican City
Greece
Relationship assessment
Diplomatic engagement marked by papal visits and the return of important religious relics
Vatican City toward Greece
+35In 2004, the Holy See returned the relics of Saints Gregory Nazianzen and John Chrysostom to Greece. Papal visits to Greece have also provided occasions for engagement with Greek government leaders.
Greece toward Vatican City
+35Greek governments have received papal visits, including the Pope’s visits to Lesbos in 2016 and Greece in 2021, with meetings involving Greek leaders. Greece also received the relics returned by the Holy See in 2004.
Overall relationship
+35Relations have included sustained diplomatic engagement and notable gestures, especially the 2004 return of the saints’ relics and Greek government engagement during papal visits. These features support a cooperative relationship, though the scale of continuing bilateral cooperation is unclear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The relationship combines diplomatic engagement with concrete gestures of cooperation. The Holy See returned the relics of Saints Gregory Nazianzen and John Chrysostom to Greece in 2004. Greek governments have received papal visits, including visits to Lesbos in 2016 and Greece in 2021, where the Pope met Greek leaders. The breadth and implementation of ongoing bilateral cooperation are less clear.
Key developments
The Holy See returned the relics of Saints Gregory Nazianzen and John Chrysostom to Greece.
Pope Francis visited Lesbos and met with Greek government leaders.
Pope Francis visited Greece and met with Greek leaders.
Major uncertainties
- The scope of ongoing bilateral agreements and government cooperation is unclear.
- The extent to which religious and historical disagreements affect present-day government relations is uncertain.