Met. Anthony opposes recognizing LGBT lifestyle as normal for EU accession
Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich). Photo: pravlife.info
Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, Chancellor of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, stated that recognizing sin as a norm is incompatible with Christian teaching. He made the remarks in a commentary published by the Orthodox Life website.
The statement came in response to an appeal by the LGBT center Nash Svit (“Our World”) to the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, urging it to publicly support the rights of people with non-traditional sexual orientations and claiming that such support is one of the conditions for Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.
“Agreeing to recognize sin as a norm is nothing less than a betrayal of the Lord,” Metropolitan Anthony stressed. According to him, Christians are being asked to abandon the Gospel worldview and moral standards rooted in Holy Scripture. He recalled that, according to biblical teaching, God created human beings “male and female,” and that the Church has consistently regarded same-sex relations as sinful.
The hierarch noted that, despite social and political pressure, the Church cannot change its attitude toward the commandments of the Gospel.
“For genuine religious consciousness, grounded in Holy Scripture, a distorted view of the human person, a corrupted anthropology, is unacceptable,” Metropolitan Anthony concluded.
As the UOJ reported, a Norwegian foundation promoting LGBT causes allocated €1.5 million to journalists in Ukraine.
Read also
SBU names UOC priest’s wife a suspect in Cherkasy region
The SBU accused Matushka Kateryna Prykotenko of “spreading enemy propaganda” through correspondence with parishioners.
UGCC cleric calls Russian Orthodox literature dangerous for clergy
While examining the causes of divisions within the UGCC, Yustyn Boiko concluded that Russian Orthodox literature had influenced Greek Catholic clergy.
UOC will play major role in achieving peace, says Vadym Novynskyi
UOC Protodeacon Vadym Novynskyi believes the Church will help bring about reconciliation within Ukrainian society after the war ends.
Catholic media outraged by forcible conscription of Uniate cleric
The Vatican’s Apostolic Nunciature has demanded the return of a forcibly mobilized Greek Catholic cleric.
Rivne court fines man for criticizing parish's "transfer" to OCU
A resident of the Rivne region was convicted over Facebook posts criticizing the “transfer” of a religious community in the village of Butove to the OCU.
Novynskyi: I quoted the Gospel to Zelensky on first day of war
The former Ukrainian MP said he advised Davyd Arakhamia to begin negotiations with Russia in the first days of the full-scale war and later spoke with Volodymyr Zelensky.