A Greek town trusts in the fight against demographic collapse

FOURNA, Greece (AP) — Home to 180 people and tucked away in the spruce-covered mountains of central Greece, Fourna is a disappearing village determined to keep its place on the map.

A four-hour drive from Athens, you can enjoy almost total silence, periodically interrupted by the ringing of church bells and the howling of dogs. Older residents measure the village’s chances of survival by the number of children enrolled in the local primary school.

Last year there were only two.

But Fourna’s fortunes have been reversed thanks to an unlikely and tireless partnership. The local school teacher, a Ph.D. student of artificial intelligence, found common cause with the Rev. Constantine Dousikos, a burly Orthodox priest and former logging machine operator who was ordained a priest shortly before his 50th birthday.

They began a desperation-fueled campaign to attract families to Fourna, offering money raised from private donations and municipal programs.

It’s working: two families have moved to the village, five more are on a waiting list for 2025 and hundreds more have made enquiries. Currently eight children attend primary classes.

Dousikos, who is equally comfortable behind the wheel of his pickup truck or in front of the church altar, says the initiative was inspired in part by calls from the Orthodox church hierarchy urging clergy to promote family life.

“I think we did the obvious thing: help the people here keep our village alive,” he says, standing in the Church of the Transfiguration of Christ in the main square. “Of course, village life is not for everyone. You have to be good at manual labor.”

Greece has one of the oldest populations in the world: 23% will be 65 years old or older in 2023, according to World Bank data. The central Greek region of Evrytania, home to Fourna, faces low birth rates and rural depopulation, with an average age of 56.2 years, one of the three highest in the European Union.

Panagiota Diamanti, Fourna’s only primary school teacher and co-founder of the family campaign “New Life in the Village,” says the urgency of the situation is palpable.

“If the children don’t come, they transfer the teacher and the school will close. And a closed school will never reopen,” he says. “We need bold measures.”

More than 200 public schools and kindergartens were closed across Greece during the current school year due to low enrollment, many of them in remote areas of the country with sparse populations due to its mountainous continental terrain and numerous small islands.

Several local authorities approached Fourna’s campaign and asked Diamanti to help them start a similar program.

After class, he joins his eight students to play a game of dodgeball in the schoolyard, overlooking the rugged mountains of Evrytania. The children enjoy local celebrity status; Their birthdays are usually celebrated in the town’s main square.

Vassiliki Emmanouil moved to Fourna with her six children (five boys and one daughter) and says she has been showered with kindness. The village residents leave food outside her door overnight and encourage her to restart an old bakery when her husband returns from a work stint in Germany.

“I’ve been here for almost three months and I would be ungrateful if I said I’ve had difficulties,” says Emmanouil. “The local priest and his wife treat me like I’m part of their family. The entire town has been by our side, from offering daily essentials to emotional support.”

Deaths surpassed annual births in Greece in 2010, when the country plunged into a serious financial crisis, and the numbers have steadily worsened since then, reaching almost double the birth rate in 2022.

The conservative government created a ministry of family and social cohesion last year. He increased family benefits in the 2025 budget and asked the Orthodox Church for help.

Last year, the Holy Synod that governs the church issued a circular that was read in all Orthodox churches in Greece, arguing that financial incentives will not be enough to reverse dire demographic trends.

“Experts propose several solutions to address the problem, emphasizing its important social, economic and geopolitical implications,” the message said.

“The Church emphasizes the spiritual dimension of family life, advocating unity, love and the creation of families as a testimony of divine purpose,” he added. “Children, considered gifts from God, give meaning to life and symbolize hope and renewal.”

For Fourna residents, even church attendance is tied to the survival of the village. Two dozen churches in the area remain empty most of the year, but are well maintained and open on important dates on the religious calendar.

The appearance of children in the church and on the town’s long quiet streets took most residents by surprise.

“At first I never thought families would come to live here. It’s a remote town, very small, not much here,” said local business owner Giorgos Vassilikoudis.

“But to my surprise, the families came and they are happy,” said Vassilikoudis, who runs a restaurant and guest house. “It is very good for the town and for the people who have shops and businesses. For other towns it serves as an example. “It’s a good start.”

___

AP writer Lefteris Pitarakis contributed to this report.

___

Associated Press religion coverage gets support from AP collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.