Sydney, Australia, July 7, 2022
Photo: greekcitytimes.com
In the midst of the ongoing debate about abortion, especially in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, Archbishop Makarios of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia issued a brief pro-life statement.
The statement, published on vema.com.au, reads:
All of you who are reading this message, at this present moment, should thank God that whilst your mother was pregnant, she did not only consider her own rights. She thought of her obligation and maternal responsibility which allowed for her to keep the child in her womb, giving this child the chance to be born.
Your mother fulfilled her duty.
When a woman kills the embryo, she is not fulfilling her duty as a mother. She may claim this to be her own right but at the same time she revokes the right of life for the embryo. May God pity us… May God enlighten us…
Abp. Makarios has been fighting for the pro-life cause in Australia ever since he arrived as Archbishop of the Greek Archdiocese in the summer of 2019. In August of that year, he issued a statement against an extreme pro-abortion bill that was then being considered in the New South Wales Parliament and participated in a pro-life rally with many other Orthodox Christians.
In August 2020, he co-signed a letter to the Prime Minister explaining that vaccines made from aborted fetal cells are “deeply immoral.” In March 2021, pro-abortion Greek politicians weren’t invited to participate in the Archdiocese’s Greek Independence Day celebrations.
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