The clergy is also against adoption by same-sex couples
The Holy Synod of the Greek Church stood categorically against the conclusion of marriages and the adoption of children by same-sex couples. The conservative government is not expected to propose a change in the law due to a strong reaction within the party, Bulgarian National Radio reported.
Recent opinion polls among Greeks show that they accept same-sex couples living together, but more than half of Greeks are against them marrying and even more against allowing them to adopt children.
According to surveys, 70% of Greeks do not agree with adoption. Over 40% say they would not go to such a wedding.
Yesterday, the Holy Synod of the Greek Church issued a statement that senior clergy are categorically against same-sex marriage. “Children have the right to live in a family with a mother and a father, not with one or two parents,” the Greek church leadership said. Violations of church canons are not tolerated by deeply believing Greeks. Only a cohabitation contract, like all other Greeks, but not marriage with children, is the definitive position of the Holy Synod.
On the opposite side are the organizations that fight for equal rights for monogamous couples. The new SYRIZA leader Kaselakis, who married his partner abroad, cannot legalize it in Greece. After today’s position of the Holy Synod, it is not expected that the conservatives will risk bringing the same-sex marriage law to the parliament, MPs are categorical.
The Roman Catholic Church, for its part, published this month a declaration “Fiducia supplicans” by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The document is not devoted to marriage and homosexual unions, but to the various aspects of the pastoral blessing.
In one of the paragraphs it is noted that the priest can also bless people who turn to him for a blessing, even if he knows that they live in “illegal unions”, be they hetero- or homosexual. This kind of blessing is “offered to all without asking,” helping people to feel that they are still blessed in spite of their faults, and that “their heavenly Father continues to desire their good and to hope that they will eventually open up to the good.” However, the priestly blessing of such people should not have a ritual or liturgical character, but only personal (spontaneous) and in no way create the impression that “their status is confirmed or the Church’s eternal teaching on marriage is changed in any way” . It is also emphasized that “rites and prayers which might create confusion between what constitutes marriage” and “what is contrary to it” are inadmissible, avoiding any suggestion that “something that is not marriage is admits of marriage’. It is reiterated that according to “eternal Catholic doctrine” only sexual relations between a man and a woman in the context of marriage are considered legitimate. People who live in a homosexual union, if they want, can receive a blessing from a priest, but “outside the liturgical framework”.
The opinion reiterates the arguments developed in the Roman Catholic Church’s special document on homosexual relationships, issued two years ago. The new declaration does not cancel the old one.
The official position of the Roman Catholic Church on this matter was formulated in 2021 and it has the status of a doctrinal document. It is titled:
“Response of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Dubium (doubt, bewilderment) regarding the blessing of same-sex unions.
PROPOSED QUESTION: Does the Church have the right to bless same-sex unions? ANSWER: Negative’.
The decision specifically justified the refusal to bless homosexual unions and said:
“It is impermissible to bless relationships or partnerships, even stable ones, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage (ie, outside of the indissoluble union of a man and a woman that is open to the transmission of life), as is the case with unions between persons of the same sex. The presence in such relationships of positive elements, which in themselves should be valued and are valued, cannot justify these relationships and make them legitimate objects of ecclesiastical blessing, since the positive elements exist in the context of a union that is not subject to the design of the Creator.
Also, since the blessing of people is related to the sacraments, the blessing of homosexual unions cannot be considered legitimate. This is because they would represent some kind of imitation or analogue of the conjugal blessing which is invoked upon a man and woman united in the sacrament of Matrimony, when in reality “there is absolutely no reason to think that homosexual unions are in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and the family.”
The statement that it is illegal to bless same-sex unions is not and should not be a form of unfair discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite and the very nature of the sacrament as understood by the Church.
The Christian community and its pastors are called to accept people with homosexual tendencies with respect and sensitivity and to know how to find the most appropriate ways, consistent with the teaching of the Church, to proclaim the Gospel to them in its fullness. At the same time, these people must recognize the authentic closeness of the Church, which prays for them, accompanies them and shares their journey of Christian faith, and accept the teaching with sincere openness.
The answer to the proposed dubium does not exclude the blessings granted to persons with homosexual inclinations who show a will to live in fidelity to the revealed plan of God, as it is offered to us by the teaching of the Church. Rather, any form of blessing that tends to recognize their unions as such is declared unlawful. In such a case, in practice, the blessing is not an expression of the desire to entrust these people to God’s protection and help in the above sense, but approves and encourages a choice and a way of life that cannot be recognized as objectively corresponding to God’s revealed will. plans for man.
At the same time, the Church reminds us that God Himself does not stop blessing each of His wandering children in this world, because “we are more important to God than all the sins we can commit”. However, He does not bless and cannot bless sin: He blesses the sinful man to realize that he is part of His plan of love and to allow him to change. In fact, He accepts us as we are, but He never leaves us as we are.’
Illustration: St. Peter, fresco.
