Religious Life

The Venetians saw the Orthodox Church as a threat to their hold on Crete, since it served as a rallying point for the Orthodox population and a link to the Byzantine Empire. They thus removed the leaders of the Orthodox clergy and forbade the ordination of Orthodox priests on the island. Latin Church prelates headed by an archbishop were appointed in place of Orthodox bishops. But this attempt to impose Catholicism met with fanatical resistance on the part of the Cretans. The Catholic clergy proved unable to impose their will in rural areas, and thus withdrew to the towns. One fact illustrative of this is that in approximately 1580, papal emissaries estimated that out of a population totaling 200 000 inhabitants, the number of Catholics did not exceed 2 000.

From the early 16^th century Venice adopted a more flexible, tolerant stance on religious matters, leading to a relaxation in religious tensions and an improvement in relations with the Orthodox element. Indicative of this improvement is the fact that Orthodox residents in the town would turn out for the Corpus Domini procession held by the Catholics in Chandax.