Prot. 373
No. 204
Athens, 29 January 2024
E C Y C L I O S 3 0 8 5
To the Christians of the Church of Greece
Born in the Lord, beloved,
As you were informed, just a few days ago, that is, on January 23, 2024, the Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, which is the supreme authority of our Church, studied the issue that has arisen in our days, namely the establishment of “civil marriage” of homosexuals, with all the consequences that this brings to family law.
The Hierarchy discussed this matter responsibly and soberly enough, proving once again its unity, then unanimously decided the necessary things that were announced.
One of the decisions she has made is to inform her congregation who want to hear her decisions and positions.
In this context, the Hierarchy appeals to all of you to articulate the truth on this serious matter.
1. The work of the Church throughout the centuries is two-sided, i.e. theological, by professing her faith as revealed by Christ and lived by her saints, and pastoral, by preaching and leading people to the living Christ. This work of hers can be seen in the Holy Scriptures and in the decisions of the Ecumenical and Local Synods, which establish the conditions for the Orthodox faith and sacred rules and define the limits within which all its members, clerics, monks and laity, must observe. In this way, the Church shepherds, i.e. heals people’s spiritual diseases so that Christians live in communion with Christ and their brothers, free themselves from selfishness and develop philanthropy and philanthropy, i.e. selfish, selfish love to become selfless love.
2. God loves all people, righteous and unrighteous, good and bad, saints and sinners, so does the Church. After all, the Church is a spiritual hospital that heals people without excluding anyone, as the parable of the Good Samaritan that Christ told (Luke I’, 3037) shows. Hospitals and doctors do the same for physical ailments. When doctors operate on people, no one can claim that they have no love.
But people react differently to this love for the Church; some want it, some don’t. The sun sends its rays to all creation, but some light up and some burn, and this depends on the nature of those who receive the sun’s rays. Thus the Church loves all her baptized children and all people who are God’s creations, young and old, single and married, clergy, monks and laity, learned and unlearned, princes and poor, heterosexual and homosexual, and practices her love philanthropically, it is enough , of course, that they themselves want it and really live in the Church.
3. The theology of the Church regarding marriage derives from the Holy Bible, the teaching of the Fathers of the Church and the provision of the Sacrament of Marriage. In the book of Genesis it is written: “27. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. 28. And God blessed them, saying to them: be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and possess it and have dominion over the fish of the sea (and over the beasts), over the birds of the sky (and over all livestock, over the whole earth) and over all animals , which crawl on the ground” (Genesis, 1, 27-28). This means that “the duality of the two natures and their mutual complementarity are not social inventions, but are provided by God”; “the sanctity of the union of man and woman refers to the relationship between Christ and the Church”; “Christian marriage is not just an agreement for cohabitation, but a sacred Sacrament through which man and woman receive God’s grace to continue towards their deification”; “father and mother are constituent elements of childhood and mature life”.
The entire theology of marriage is clearly seen in the sequence of the mystery of marriage, in the rites and blessings. In this mystery the union of man and woman is proclaimed in Christ Jesus, with the necessary conditions. The results of Marriage in Christ are the creation of a good marriage and family, the birth of children, as the fruit of the love of the two spouses, the man and the woman, and their relationship with church life. Childlessness, through no fault of the spouses, does not destroy a marriage in Christ.
The traditional Christian family consists of father, mother and children, and in this family children grow up knowing motherhood and fatherhood, which will be essential elements in their further development.
On the other hand, as seen in the “Trebnik” of the Church, there is a clear connection between the Mysteries of Baptism, Anointing, Marriage, Confession and Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. Any break in this relationship creates ecclesiastical problems.
That is why we are baptized and anointed to participate in the Body and Blood of Christ. The wedding ceremony takes place so that the spouses and family can participate in the Mystery of the Eucharist and partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. Any break in this connection of the mysteries is a falling away.
The Church is based on this tradition which was given by God to the saints and cannot accept any other form of marriage, much less to the so-called “homosexual marriage”.
4. In a state of law, the state with its institutions has the power to draft bills and pass laws so that there is unity, peace and love in the society.
However, the Church is an ancient institution, it has centuries-old traditions, it has participated in all the trials of the people in all times, it has played a decisive role in its freedom, as seen in history, the oldest and the most recent, and everyone should give it its due accordingly, respect. After all, all rulers, with the exception of a few, are her members by power and blessing. The Church neither supports nor opposes, but governs according to God and shepherds over all. Therefore, it has a special reason to be respected.
On the subject of the so-called “political marriage of homosexuals”, the Holy Synod not only cannot remain silent, but must speak out of love and mercy for all. That is why the hierarchy of the Church of Greece in its recent decision, in a unanimous and unifying manner, for reasons it has argued, announced that it “completely and categorically opposes the proposed bill”.
And this clear decision is based on the fact that “the initiators of the bill and those who agree with it promote the abolition of fatherhood and motherhood and their transformation into neutral parentage, the disappearance of the roles of both sexes within the family and the place above it, the protection of the interests of Future Children and the Sexual Choices of Homosexual Adults’.
Furthermore, the establishment of “child adoption” condemns future children to grow up without a father or mother in an environment of parental role confusion, leaving an open window for so-called “surrogate pregnancy” that will provide incentives for the exploitation of vulnerable women and changing the sacred institution of the family.
The Church, which must express God’s will and guide its members orthodoxly, cannot accept all this, because otherwise it will betray its mission. And it does this not only out of love for its members, but also out of love for the state itself and its institutions, so that they contribute to society and contribute to its unity.
We accept, of course, the rights of people if they move within permissible limits, combined with their duties, but the legalization of an absolute “right” to be practically deified challenges society itself.
5. The Church is interested in the family, which is the cell of the Church, society and nation. The state must also support this, since in the current Constitution it is understood that “the family as the basis for the maintenance and promotion of the nation, as well as marriage, motherhood and childhood are under the protection of the state” (Article 21) .
According to the Statutory Charter of the Greek Church, which is a state law (590/1977), “The Greek Church cooperates after the state, in matters of common interest such as… the promotion of the institution of marriage and family” (No. 2).
We therefore call on the State to deal with the demographic problem which is becoming a bomb ready to explode and is the foremost national problem of our time, the solution of which is undermined by the bill that is about to be passed, and we call on it to support the large families who offer much to society and the nation.
All of the above the hierarchy of the Greek Church announces to all its members, with a sense of pastoral responsibility and love, because not only is the so-called “homosexual marriage” an undermining of Christian marriage and the institution of the traditional Greek family, which changes its standard, but also because homosexuality is condemned by the entire church tradition, beginning with the apostle Paul (Rom. 1, 2432), and deals with repentance, which is a change in lifestyle.
Of course, there is the basic principle that while the Church condemns every sin as alienating man from the Light and love of God, at the same time she loves every sinner because he too has the “image of God” and can attain “likeness”. if he cooperates with God’s grace.
The Holy Synod addresses this responsible word to you, blessed Christians, its members and to all who await its word, because the Church “speaks the truth with love” (Eph. 4, 15) and “loves with truth”. (2 John 1, 1).
† JEROMEN of Athens, President
† Seraphim of Karistias and Skyros
† Eustathius of Monemvasia and Sparta
† Alexius of Nicaea †
Chrysostom of Nicopolis and Preveza
† Theoklitus of Jerisos, Agios Yoros and Ardamerios
† Theoclitus of Marconia and Comotina Panteleimon
† George of Kitrusi and Katerina
† Maximus of Ioannina
† Ellasson of Charito
† Amphilochius of Tyre, Amorgos and the Islands
† Nicephorus of Gortyn and Megalopolis
† Damascene of Aetolia and Acarnania
Secretary General:
archim. Ioannis Karamouzis
Source:here
