A 2016 statement by a council of most Orthodox churches called marriage between a man and a woman “the oldest institution of divine law” and said members were forbidden from entering same-sex unions.In countries where they are a majority, Orthodox believers overwhelmingly said society should not accept homosexuality or approve same-sex marriage, according to surveys conducted in 2015 and 2016 by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank.Greek Orthodox showed relative tolerance, with half of Orthodox saying homosexuality should be accepted and a quarter favouring same-sex marriage. In more recent polls, Greeks overall narrowly supported the marriage law.The Greek law validates marriage in the civil realm but doesn’t require any church to perform such rites.Nevertheless, Greece’s Orthodox leadership unanimously opposed the law in January, saying the “duality of genders and their complementarity are not social inventions but originate from God.”Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged the church’s position but said, “We are discussing the decisions of the Greek state, unrelated to theological beliefs.”Civil unions may be in some Orthodox countries’ near future, said George Demacopoulos, director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University in New York.”In terms of civil marriage, I think the countries that are in the European Union will eventually all do it,” Demacopoulos said. “My guess is that the assemblies of bishops in those countries will offer some resistance to the measure, and depending on where you are, that may or may not delay it.”
Source link
