The present study by the professor of the Theological School of the University of Athens, the Very Reverend Protopresbyter Georgios Metallinos, titled "Church and State in Orthodox Tradition," is a lecture given on May 15, 1996, at the Municipal Spiritual Center of Kalamata (Panta-zopouleion Popular School), organized by the "Society for the Dissemination of Letters" in Kalamata, awarded by the Academy of Athens.

The lecture was attended by a large and distinguished audience of clergy and laity, and it left an excellent impression. At the end of his presentation on the topic, I asked the distinguished professor to accept my suggestion that the Holy Metropolis of Messinia publish this lecture, which is timely and of great interest, informative, and guiding.

The study includes the following seven sections:

• The ecclesiastical community.
• The change of the 4th century.
• Holy Orders and kingship.
• Action and patristics.
• Alienation.
• Intra-Greek distortions.
• The demand for "separation."

Appendix. Politicocracy: the permanent nightmare of our Church.

[Excerpt from the text of the preface]