Serbian Church: It is impermissible to legally equate same-sex unions with marriage and family

Illustration: Nikola Jovanovic; Photo: Shutterstock

The draft law on same-sex unions is unacceptable to the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC), the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church has announced. We carry the statement of the Synod in its entirety:

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"The Holy Synod of Bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church has submitted its objections and opinions on the draft law on same-sex unions to the Government of the Republic of Serbia in a timely manner and within the legally prescribed deadline.

For the Serbian Orthodox Church the said law is unacceptable, because the vast majority of the proposed provisions are contrary to the Gospel of Christ and the overall experience and practice of the Church upon which our Serb nation, as well as the entire European civilization, are spiritually and morally based.

It is impermissible to legally equate same-sex unions with marriage and family, as stated in the wording of the draft law, because this discriminates against the marital union, as a Christian and legally protected value. The Church respects the freedom that God has given us and understands the human aspiration to express freedom in different ways.

The Holy Synod of Bishops agrees that there is a need to exercise certain personal, property and other rights of those the draft law concerns, but pointed out with valid arguments that they are exercised in the legal order of the Republic of Serbia entirely administratively, without interfering with marital and family legislation.

The Holy Synod of Bishops stresses that it accepts and promotes dialogue, as the only and necessary way to find solutions regarding all issues of general societal importance, as well as on this issue that has caused great concern.

The Holy Synod of Bishops expresses its expectation that the arguments of the Serbian Orthodox Church on this issue will be taken into account."

(Telegraf.rs)