It appears that Roman Catholic churches are not easily found in Greece especially outside of Athens. Can a Roman Catholic attend mass (is it even called mass?) and receive Communion at other churches in Greece? I've tried Googling this but am not certain.
If there's no Catholic Mass available, we are permitted to attend the Orthodox Divine Liturgy. The Catholic Church recognises the Real Presence of Jesus in the Orthodox Eucharist so we are permitted to receive if that's the only option available. I'm not sure, however, whether the Greek Orthodox permit Catholics to receive the Eucharist in their churches. If you know whereabouts in Greece you will be on a Saturday evening/Sunday it would be easier to search for a Catholic church in the area or you could post a question on one of the travel forums (like Trip Advisor). Here's a link to the Catholic Travel Guide website where you will find a list of Catholic churches and shrines in Greece: https://thecatholictravelguide.com/destinations/greece/
You should be aware that, although the Church permits Catholics to receive Communion in Orthodox churches in certain specific circumstances, the Orthodox do not permit their clergy to distribute Communion to Catholics. You could find yourself being interrogated by an Orthodox priest at the altar if he suspects that you may not be Orthodox.
Here is a list of all of the Catholic churches in Greece SG. Apparently, there are a ton of them. I am not sure how to read the addresses, but at least you have a listing. http://www.thecatholicdirectory.com/directory.cfm?fuseaction=show_country&country=gr
Since SgC will only be on a short visit to Greece, it would be better to give Communion a miss or at least have a word with the Orthodox priest in advance of the ceremony. We Catholics expect people of other faith traditions to respect our rules; as a matter of courtesy, we should respect theirs.
Thank you all for the responses. I have yet to finalise my itinerary, so I don't know where exactly I will be on the weekend of my trip. I'm thinking now that I should arrange it so that I'm in Thessaloniki for Sunday mass. This is also what I gathered from various answers online. Not encouraging. So my best option is to look for Catholic churches. I did find the above websites when I googled. Thank you all the same. My main concern is that I wish to go for mass daily. On my travels, I usually look for accommodation near a Catholic church so that I can make it for morning mass. It's difficult to find info on whether there's a Catholic church in the towns/places I intend to visit and even more difficult to determine if there is daily mass and its timings. My trip is in the early to mid January and there's a whole lot to do still!
SG you should open a website about your Catholic travels. It might help other Catholic travelers know something about the countries and where to find churches, holy sites, what the country is like, etc. Just a thought
This website is helpful, but I suspect that it's not totally comprehensive, especially for the smaller towns. https://www.weekdaymasses.org.uk/en/area/greece/churches
That is a great thought, Praetorian. Embarrassingly, my first instinct is to say that I don't have the time or know-how. I must ponder on this.
Wow, that’s a tall order, Sg. Maybe you can arrange it the way you want. Hope you can. But don’t beat yourself up if you can’t make Mass daily. Shooting for Sunday is a good thing under the circumstances. I had an aunt from Thessaloniki. She was Orthodox.
That's an excellent website. Have you seen this one? http://www.cathecclesia.gr/hellas/index.php/catholic-church-in-greece It's not as well laid out, nor does it give Mass times, but it does give the addresses and phone numbers of parishes in each diocese, including a small number of Armenian rite parishes which are in communion with Rome.
Yes, I have Dolours. Like you said, it's layout is not great. Thank you for going through the trouble. I must pray that I can get to mass daily throughout my trip. It matters very much to me.
It might be best, then, to stick to Athens and maybe one or two of the islands with the highest number of Catholics. Apart from Athens, it looks like Crete, Tinos, Syros and possibly Corfu are your best options for daily Mass. Many of the islands have churches but mostly Sunday Mass seems to be all that's available, even in Summer. If most of the priests in the Cyclades are based on Tinos or Siros, I suppose Mass schedules on other islands in the region would depend on the ferry services, and ferries are infrequent in winter. This website gives some details about ferries in the Cyclades: https://www.rome2rio.com/guides/gre.../?utm_source=r2r_product&utm_medium=QueryPane If you're interested in visiting Patmos where St. John received the Revelation, one of those islands would be your best bet for a ferry connection. It looks like there's no Catholic church on Patmos. I also read (possibly in the Catholic Travel Guide) that there's Mass in the main church/cathedral on Santorini (Thina) and something about daily Mass at 8 a.m. in the Dominican convent beside the church. The weather on Rhodes and Crete would likely be warmer than Athens or the islands further north. Here's a link to the website for the Catholic Church in Rhodes: http://www.catholicchurchrhodes.com/default.asp?id=346 Looking at that website, it appears that the only weekday Mass is 11 a.m. on Fridays in the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Crete has the Cathedral of the Assumption. Someone on TripAdvisor actually posted this picture of the notice of Mass times showing a daily Mass in the evening, but that could be for the summer months: https://www.tripadvisor.ie/ShowUser...aggregationId=&albumid=&filter=2&ff=294799536 Maybe you could 'phone and ask them. Hope you have a great trip and look forward to hearing all about it. I've never been to Greece other than a day trip to Rhodes which doesn't really count.
Thank you very much, Dolours for the details on the Catholic churches in Greece. Reading the various forums and blogs out there, I am hesitant to visit any of the islands on this trip. Most of the islands will not have any activities or accommodation available for tourists in January, I think. I'm still wondering whether to take a chance and go to Santorini. Apparently, the weather is usually bad enough to warrant avoiding the ferry from the mainland to the island, and a flight is preferable. But there may be enough rain in January to make it all not worth the while. I would really love to visit Patmos island, but again it is not recommended in January. At the moment, the itinerary is going to be loosely based on this tour following St Paul's steps in Greece, minus the cruise to the islands: https://www.christian-pilgrimage-jo.../catholic-pilgrimage-of-saint-paul-in-greece/
Yes, even the most picturesque places can be miserable in cold, wet weather. There's enough to see on the Greek mainland and you will have time to pay a return visit to some of the more interesting sites. Late April or May might be a better time to visit the islands before the crowds arrive and when the weather is warming up but not oppressively hot. I enjoyed searching out information on the various islands. I particularly liked the look of Santorini. Enjoy your trip.
