Athens, January 26, 2024
Abp. Ieronymos addressed the issue during a meeting with Abp. Elpidophoros yesterday. Photo: Romfea
The children of gay couples should be baptized when they’re older and have expressed a desire to receive the Sacrament, believes the Archbishop of Athens.
The issue has been a hot topic in the Orthodox world since Archbishop Elpidophoros of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America baptized the children of a celebrity gay couple in the summer of 2022. One of the men praised the Archbishop for serving what he called “the first openly gay baptism in the Greek Orthodox Church,” though it became a scandal in Greece where the Baptism was celebrated. The Greek Synod even sent letters of protest to Abp. Elpidophoros and Pat. Bartholomew.
The issue resurfaced earlier this month when the abbots and representatives of the 20 monasteries of Mt. Athos expressed their concern about the public spectacle surrounding the Baptism that gave the impression that the Church approves of gay marriage. They also unanimously voted not to accord Abp. Elpidophoros the typical hierarchical greeting in Karyes during his recent visit to Mt. Athos.
Following his pilgrimage, Abp. Elpidophoros visited Archbishop Ieronymos of Athens yesterday. Answering a journalist’s question about the Baptism of children of gay couples, the Greek primate said it should be delayed, reports Romfea:
We must return again to tradition. If Baptism takes place at an early age for children, it’s because the Church had the sense that the child would grow up in an environment of Christian principles. Therefore, no catechism was needed, because it was done within his environment. Now that things are changing, we’re not against children. We love children and care more about them than anyone else. The Church will wait for these children to reach a certain age and when they grow up and wish to be baptized, they will be baptized.
Responding to the same question, Abp. Elpidophoros said: “I have nothing to add—His Beatitude said it all.”
Another Greek hierarch, Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Messinia, was quick to point out that this is the personal opinion of Abp. Ieronymos, as the Greek Church has yet to formulate its view:
The proposal of Abp. Ieronymos of Athens regarding the non-Baptism of infants adopted by same-sex couples is his personal opinion, which does not reflect the position of the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, which is awaiting the recommendation of the Synodal Committee on Canonical and Dogmatic Issues, as decided in the meeting of January 23, 2024.
“The Archbishop of America’s agreement on the issue is contradicted by his actual action of baptizing infants adopted by a same-sex couple in Glyfada,” Met. Chrysostomos added.
It would be a peculiar canonical penalty against the children to not baptize them because of the sins of their parents, the Metropolitan argued.
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