The Parliamentary Commission for Constitutional Reform yesterday decided unanimously to include in the new Greek Constitution a clause prohibiting conversion of persons under 21 years of age.
The clause provides also that persons over that age must present written permission from their religious authorities before conversion to another faith is allowed. This provision was included to enable the religious authorities concerned to make a final effort to prevent the apostasy.
The step was widely hailed in Jewish communities throughout Greece, which have been alarmed by numerous conversions of Jewish boys and girls to the Catholic and Protestant faiths.
The commission also decided to proclaim the inviolability of religious buildings and cemeteries.
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