Top Church officials yesterday denounced as a plan to promote “sex tourism” a drive by Athens municipal authorities for laxer laws to facilitate the legitimate functioning of the capital’s brothels during the 2004 Games.

The matter was raised by Archbishop Christodoulos during a session of the Holy Synod, the Church of Greece’s governing body.

“[The municipal authorities’ campaign] constitutes an insult to the city of Athens and conveys the impression that the country’s largest municipality is showing an untoward interest in sex tourism,” a Synod statement said. “This decision will only satisfy the gangs of procurers that carry out an unchecked traffic in young foreign women.”

Municipal authorities countered that they only wanted a more realistic prostitution law to replace current legislation that is largely ignored. “Our decision is intended to stop the unlicensed functioning of brothels,” the City Council said in a statement. “The Holy Synod was obviously not fully aware of our decisions and intentions.”