Greek Orthodox Church to Campaign Against Same-Sex Marriage
By Tasos Kokkinidis, Greek Reporter.
The Holy Synod, the highest governing body of the Church of Greece, expressed its opposition to the government’s expected bill on same-sex marriage and vowed to campaign against it.
Top clerics unanimously decided to launch a campaign to prevent the bill from becoming law, an initiative that has been dominating the political debate since Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis pledged to bring it forward, stirring an outcry from the church, the parties of the far right, and dozens of ruling New Democracy MPs.
The Holy Synod is drafting two letters to put forward its case. Recipients of the first will be the three hundred lawmakers that will vote on the government bill. The second would be read to the faithful after Sunday’s service in churches throughout the country. The content of the letters has not yet been made public.
Last December late in the month, the Church’s ruling Holy Synod delivered a 1,500-word document opposing the bill.
The church clarified that it does not disagree with same-sex civil marriages, as it is indifferent to the sex of couples and is something that does not concern Orthodox Christian tradition.
However, their concerns remain around parenting, which they disagree with because “it does not satisfy the rights of children to have both a father and a mother.”
As an extension to that, the church disagrees with same-sex marriage because it can lead to same-sex parenting. The church also stated that “the extension of marriage to same-sex couples is not legally permissible, excluding them from the right to adoption that currently applies to married couples.”
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