Greek bishop calls imposition of same-sex marriage a threat

Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira. Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr

Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira addressed the clergy and flock of the Greek Orthodox Church with a message on the occasion of the beginning of the new church year, stating that the traditional Christian family today is "indirectly and insidiously attacked and undermined." The full text of the message was published on September 1 by the UOJ in Greece.

In his address, Metropolitan Seraphim connected the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos with the theme of the family, recalling the parents of the Mother of God — Saints Joachim and Anna — as a model of a blessed marriage founded on prayer and trust in God. The hierarch listed the changes of the past 50–60 years which, in his words, have undermined the institution of marriage in Greece: simplified divorce procedures, the decriminalization of adultery, civil "marriage," cohabitation agreements for same-sex and opposite-sex couples, as well as the adoption of children by same-sex couples.

Of particular concern to the bishop was the fact that primary school children are being taught new "types of family": in social studies assignments, children are asked to imagine a family consisting of two boys or two girls. He also mentioned a statement by one politician about a "family" of a person and an animal, describing such ideas as a direct threat to the moral upbringing of children.

In conclusion of the present message, the hierarch called on the faithful to transform every family into a "domestic church" and a modern "secret school" — by analogy with the schools that operated secretly under Ottoman rule — in order to resist ideas alien to Christianity coming from outside.

As the UOJ previously reported, Metropolitan Seraphim of Kythira excommunicated deputies who supported LGBT.

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