Greece's powerful Orthodox Church, rocked by sex and corruption scandals, opened an emergency meeting Friday into wide-ranging reforms that will look at introducing stronger controls over finances.
The 102-member Holy Synod began a two-day session that will look at introducing stronger controls over church finances — a rare move by Archbishop Christodoulos, the church leader. The full Synod normally meets every October.
Seldom subjected to public scrutiny, the church's image has been damaged by sex scandals surrounding bishops — who take a vow of celibacy — and allegations of involvement in embezzlement and bribing judges.
"I humbly ask for forgiveness from the people and the clerics who in their majority honor ... the cassock they wear," Archbishop Christodoulos was quoted as saying by state-run television.
He called the situation "particularly grave."
"Everybody is awaiting our decisions for a cleanup. There is a lot that must be done to put our house in order," Christodoulos said.
Church elders are expected to approve a series of measures he proposed, including financial accountability and greater involvement of civil authorities in prosecuting "ethical misconduct."
Under the changes, seminary students could lose their exemption from military service.
"We are witnessing a crisis in the church," Culture Minister Fani Palli-Petralia said Thursday after a meeting with the prime minister. "I believe the church will come out of this crisis stronger. This is a demand by all of us."
Conservative Premier Costas Caramanlis has urged the church to take steps to fight corruption.
On Feb. 4, Metropolitan Bishop Panteleimon of Attica was suspended for six months over allegations of embezzlement.
A day earlier, the church suspended a priest, Iakovos Giosakis, after he was charged by a prosecutor with smuggling antiquities. Giosakis is also under investigation in a case in which eight judges have already been disciplined, with at least one judge facing criminal charges for bribery and money laundering.
The church is investigating four more clerics, including a 91-year-old metropolitan bishop, over photos published in an Athens daily newspaper allegedly showing him nude in bed with a young woman.
Orthodox Christianity is the official religion in Greece, with more than 97 percent of the country's 11 million people baptized as members.
The scandals have damaged the image of the church and of Christodoulos.
A poll published last week in Athens newspapers showed Christodoulos' popularity has plummeted from 68 percent in May 2004 to 43 percent when the scandal broke in early February. The nationwide telephone poll by the VPRC company of 941 Greek adults did not include a margin of error.