Greece, June 10, 2022
Photo: spzh.news
A large number of Orthodox Christian organizations in Greece have joined together to oppose the law legalizing non-traditional marriages, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists, citing meteoronlithopolis.gr .
In a special appeal, 15 Orthodox public organizations of Greece expressed their unanimous rejection of attempts to legalize the “marriage” of persons of the same biological sex, and called the authorities’ decision to legalize same-sex relationships “political”. The appeal further accuses the government of electing to support a narrow group of people with certain sexual preferences over the family and society.
A bill was passed in Greek Parliament as far back as December 2015 to give some of the same rights to gay couples as to traditional married couples, but it did not grant them the right to adopt children. It was stated at the time that this right would be reviewed again in the future. The bill was not passed easily and evoked much disapproval in Greek society, even though according to a survey taken in 2015, a narrow majority of Greeks were in favor of same-sex marriages, with 56% in favor and 35% opposed.
The Greek government has now adopted a number of laws that treat same sex cohabitation as marriage, streamlining child adoption processes for such couples. But as the appeal states, the Orthodox Church does not accept such relationships and refuses to consider them marriage. “Such a union contradicts the division of humanity into two sexes, harms human nature and contradicts the Christian point of view on marriage,” the text says.
These Orthodox organizations expressed their concern that legalizing same-sex marriage will lead to the emergence of new types of human exploitation, such as the use of non-human genetic material, surrogate motherhood, and the transfer of children from large families, which will be legally viewed as “dysfunctional”, to same-sex families. Orthodox Greeks declare that man is a divine creation, and he is obligated to follow the “eternal laws of human community”.
The legalization of same-sex marriages has a corrupting effect on the traditional family, the appeal stressed, since children are taught that it is possible to live without father or mother; without relatives or traditional values. They expressed their outrage over the fact that the government cannot seem to find funds to support the traditional family, but is ready to spend money on promoting same-sex unions.
“We oppose any form of legalization of homosexuality, as it does not meet the interests of our family and society. We also express our categorical rejection of the state's qualification of same-sex unions as ‘marriage’, and legalizing them as such,” the appeal concluded.
In conclusion, Orthodox public organizations appealed to the Church of Greece with a request to “take a stand for the benefit of the Orthodox family and our people.”
The appeal was signed by the Association of Women Scientists, the Association of Parents, the Association of Greek Fathers, the Student Union of Greece, the Greek Association of Theologians, and other Greek societal organizations.
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