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The Eastern Orthodox Church is the religion of 98% {Link without Title} of the Greek population and is defined as as the “prevailing” religion in the constitution. The Greek Orthodox Church exercises significant political and economic influence and is financially supported by the state who also pays the salaries and some expenses of the two official Muslim religious leaders in Thrace. Jewish leaders requested that the government pay rabbis’ salaries, given its practice of paying Orthodox priests’ and Muslim muftis’ salaries; the government has not responded to this request. The government, by virtue of the status of the Orthodox Church as the prevailing religion, recognizes ''de facto'' its Canon Law . Privileges and legal prerogatives granted to the Orthodox Church are not extended routinely to other recognized religions. The US Department of State claims Orthodox Church officials refuse to enter into dialogue with religious groups that they considered harmful to Orthodox worshippers, and they instructed their members to shun followers of these faiths. Freedom of religion The law provides for freedom of religion; however, according to the US Department of state, non‑Orthodox groups claim that they sometimes face administrative obstacles or legal restrictions based upon religious practices, and according to them, non-Orthodox citizens claim that they face career limits in the military, police, fire‑fighting forces, and civil service due to their religion. RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION Religious instruction is mandatory for all Greek Orthodox students in primary and secondary schools, but not for non‑Orthodox students. According to the US Department of state, someome government-approved religious textbooks made derogatory statements about non-Orthodox Christian faiths. Since schools did not supervise non-Orthodox children while Greek Orthodox children were taking religious instruction, non-Orthodox parents complain that they were effectively forced to have their children attend Greek Orthodox classes. There is also an option for students who do not want to attend religious instruction. If one of the parents decides that his daughter/son is not to be present in religious classes, she/he can sign an official request in the presence of the school principal; such actions remove the course in question from any calculation regarding GPA. Socially this can result to a "troublemaker" view of the student in question by faculty members, especially religious instructors. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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