Greece looks set to get gay civil unions despite church threats
The Greek Government appears to be ready to honor a
European Court of Human Rights ruling that it must open its scheme
recognizing the relationships of unmarried heterosexual couples to gay
couples, with a bill introduced by one of the government coalition
parties
Photo by Barcex
Greece appears to be ready to allow same-sex couples the civil unions it already offers heterosexual couples in line with a European Court of Human Rights ruling earlier this month.
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party announced it would table legislation to extend the civil unions scheme to gay couples after meeting with the Greek Minister of Justice Charalambos Athanassiou on Tuesday.
However a leading Greek Orthodox bishop has threatened to excommunicate any lawmaker who votes for the measure.
Bishop Seraphim, Metropolitan of Piraeus, posted a statement on his official website, claiming the bill, ‘puts Greece in a position of institutionalizing, in the most gruesome manner, the twist of human ontology and physiology and consolidating the psycho-pathological diversion of homosexuality.’
Bishop Seraphim has sought a meeting of senior Greek Orthodox leaders, writing ‘during these tragic times, we need to address the issue and enforce the necessary measure, like it happened in the Orthodox Church of Moldova.’
Seraphim’s comments appear to be a reference to a threat by Moldovan Orthodox clergy to refuse lawmakers communion until lawmakers amended a anti-discrimination law protecting LGBTIs there.
Seraphim has a history of opposing LGBTI rights and in 2010 he gave a televised interview where he alleged ‘Jewish bankers’ were conspiring to enslave Greece economically and undermine the church in an antisemitic tirade.
The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party announced it would table legislation to extend the civil unions scheme to gay couples after meeting with the Greek Minister of Justice Charalambos Athanassiou on Tuesday.
However a leading Greek Orthodox bishop has threatened to excommunicate any lawmaker who votes for the measure.
Bishop Seraphim, Metropolitan of Piraeus, posted a statement on his official website, claiming the bill, ‘puts Greece in a position of institutionalizing, in the most gruesome manner, the twist of human ontology and physiology and consolidating the psycho-pathological diversion of homosexuality.’
Bishop Seraphim has sought a meeting of senior Greek Orthodox leaders, writing ‘during these tragic times, we need to address the issue and enforce the necessary measure, like it happened in the Orthodox Church of Moldova.’
Seraphim’s comments appear to be a reference to a threat by Moldovan Orthodox clergy to refuse lawmakers communion until lawmakers amended a anti-discrimination law protecting LGBTIs there.
Seraphim has a history of opposing LGBTI rights and in 2010 he gave a televised interview where he alleged ‘Jewish bankers’ were conspiring to enslave Greece economically and undermine the church in an antisemitic tirade.
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