UOC hierarch comments on Pope's words about support for same-sex unions

Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich). Photo: 112.ua

On October 22, 2020, the UOC Chancellor, Metropolitan Anthony (Pakanich) of Boryspil and Brovary, commented on the words of Pope Francis about supporting same-sex unions, reports Rravlife.org.

Metropolitan Anthony believes that in the words of the Pope about LGBT people – “They’re children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” – contain a number of contradictions.

“Of course, we are all children of God – both the righteous and sinners and the Lord will judge everyone. But what does it mean “to have a right to a family”? The family is a gift from God, granted to our forefathers at the same time as the commandment: " Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28)" the bishop emphasized.

He recalled that "from a Christian point of view, the family and its foundation – marriage is a union of a man and a woman" and asked, "What family is the Pope talking about?"

According to Vladyka, “a family based on the so-called “same-sex unions” cannot be unambiguously accepted by the Church, and no excuses like “nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable because of it” work in this case.

“We know that a person can achieve true happiness only in unity with the Lord, and not in a sinful union that satisfies lust," said Metropolitan Anthony.

It is also not clear, says Vladyka, “why is Pope Francis so worried about the creation of a law on “civil unions”, what such laws can generally have to do with the Church? There are many questions, and they all are open-ended....”

Metropolitan Anthony also commented on an episode from the documentary film "Francesco", in which Pope Francis talks with a "same-sex couple" and recommends that they leave fears and come to church with children "despite someone's indignation".

“And there are a lot of questions here, too. Should children be brought to church? Sure. But how can a visit to church affect children who daily see their “parents” publicly living in sin, especially since this sin is no longer called a sin?” asks the bishop.

He noted that the Pope’s words cannot be interpreted as a manifestation of mercy, because “Christian mercy is about bringing the sinner to repentance rather than indulging his sins. Pity does not mean justification. There is an ancient principle: "Love the sinner but hate the sin." Do we see it here? Sadly, no".

Vladyka also believes that the words of the Pope should be discussed even though "we now have a lot of divorces, abortions and other negative factors".

Metropolitan Anthony reminded that "the task of the Church is to bear witness to the Truth in any place: both in our country and in the whole world" because "if we ignore the substitution of Christian values for the essentially godless cult of tolerance, this trouble will soon come to us".

As reported earlier, Pope Francis backed the legalization of same-sex civil unions.

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