Greece, December 7, 2023
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
Greece’s New Democracy government is finalizing a bill that aims to legalize same-sex marriage and regulate the recognition of same-sex marriages that took place abroad.
The bill, likely to come up early next year, follows on the legalization of gay civil unions in 2015.
Amidst the intense debate surrounding the draft law, hierarchs of the Greek Orthodox Church have been speaking out, proclaiming the Church’s unchanging Tradition about marriage.
Among the first reactions was that of Metropolitan Hierotheos (Vlachos) of Nafpaktos, with his article, “The Two Sexes and ‘Sexual Orientations.’” “In addition to the theological approach to the issue, the hierarch also documented the responsible position that the state should take, as its task is not to legislate the arbitrary choices of everyone,” the Orthodoxia News Agency summarizes.
Met. Hierotheos writes:
The laws that are established should not simply satisfy the arbitrary choices of each individual, but should contribute pedagogically to the development and upgrading of both the social whole and each individual. It is understood, of course, that the state must enact laws with respect for the particularity of the tradition of our country.
Metropolitans Chrysostomos of Messinia and Chrysostomos of Patras both spoke about the issue during the celebration of the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle in Patras last month, in fact in front of a government representative, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Christos Staikouras.
The Metropolitan of Messinia spoke about the false idols of our time, including a new form of “relational false idol,” which will have devastating consequences that haven’t yet been realized. The Metropolitan of Patras spoke of “new and foreign customs,” emphasizing that “we are completely opposed to ‘cohabitation’ or the ‘marriage’ of persons contrary to God’s law and human ethics.”
Opposition to gay marriage has also been voiced recently by Metropolitan Ignatios of Demetrias. He also referred to the related issue of adoption by gay couples, saying it “devalues a woman as a mere tool for childbearing, deprived of her magnificent maternal role.”
Gathered in a clerical conference recently, the clergy of the Metropolis of Chalkida unanimously expressed the need to morally and materially support the sacred institution of the family, referring also to the sad increase in divorce and domestic violence.
The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church issued a statement last month rejecting the European Court of Human Rights’ attempt to impose gay marriage on the country. And in Russia, the LGBT movement was banned as an extremist movement.
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