Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes

Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes
Formation1997
TypeNon-profit, Hellenic Ethnic Religion
Location
Membership
2,000
Key people
Vlassis G. Rassias[1]
Websitehttp://www.ysee.gr/
YSEE's Spring Equinox 2016 ritual at an ancient temple of Goddess Artemis in Peloponnese.

The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (Greek: Ύπατο Συμβούλιο των Ελλήνων Εθνικών, Ýpato Symvoúlio to̱n Ellí̱no̱n Ethnikó̱n), commonly referred to by its acronym YSEE, is a non-profit Hellenic organisation established in Greece in 1997. Its primary goal is the protection and restoration of the Hellenic ethnic religion in contemporary Greek society.

The group itself estimates that some 2,000 Greeks practice the Hellenic ethnic religion and another 50,000 have "some sort of interest".[2] The followers of the Hellenic ethnic religion face varying degrees of discrimination in Greece,[3][4][5] which has an overwhelmingly Orthodox Christian[6] population. One of YSEE's main goals is to obtain legal recognition for the Hellenic ethnic religion.

YSEE is a founding member of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) and hosted its seventh Congress in June 2004.[citation needed] YSEE has also been member of the European Union's action program to combat discrimination. [citation needed]

In 2017, the YSEE accomplished one of their goals and the Hellenic religion received legal status and was instated the "known religion" status from Greece.[7]

  1. ^ "Πέθανε ο Βλάσης Ρασσιάς - Είχε ιδρύσει το Ύπατο Συμβούλιο Ελλήνων Εθνικών". Lifo (in Greek). 9 July 2019. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Letter From Greece: The Gods Return to Olympus". Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  3. ^ Smith, Helena (2006-05-05). "Greek gods prepare for comeback". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  4. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2004". Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  5. ^ "International Religious Freedom Report 2005". Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  6. ^ "Greece". Retrieved 2007-11-26.
  7. ^ "The Greek state has finally recognized the Hellenic Ethnic Religion as a 'Known Religion' | ECER". 2017-04-21. Retrieved 2023-07-18.