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Patriarch Alexy of Russia assails gays in speech at Council of Europe

By Stephen Castle
Published: October 2, 2007

http://www.iht. com/articles/ 2007/10/02/ africa/church. php
STRASBOURG: Russia's senior religious leader assailed homosexuality
as a sin and an illness Tuesday and urged Europe to rediscover its
Christian values.

Speaking to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a
body that polices human rights in Europe, Patriarch Alexy II, head of
the Russian Orthodox Church, made few concessions to West European
sensibilities as he called for a return to Christian values.

Alexy's visit to Strasbourg came before a planned meeting Wednesday
with French bishops and President Nicolas Sarkozy. Though he has
travelled before to countries that are predominantly Roman Catholic,
this visit is his highest-profile trip to Western Europe and another
step toward better relations with the Vatican, from which the
Orthodox Church has been estranged for almost a thousand years.

In a recent newspaper interview, Alexy suggested that a meeting with
the pope could take place within two years, though he has also
emphasized that difficulties remain, in particular the activities of
Catholic missionaries in Russia.

Alexy's speech to the assembly in Strasbourg echoed the Russian
government's condemnation of acts of terrorism and its resistance to
independence for Kosovo.

"There are many monuments that are sacred to the people of Serbia,"
the patriarch said of Kosovo, "and we cannot silently stand by when
those monuments are being destroyed, despite the fact that they are
under the protection of Unesco and were built in the 12th, 13th or
14th century."

But in a 50-minute appearance Alexy focused mainly on the need for
Europe to rediscover its Christian values and abandon moral
relativism, arguing that there was a "break between human rights and
morality, and this break threatens the European civilization. "

"We can see it in a new generation of rights that contradict
morality, and in how human rights are used to justify immoral
behavior," Alexy said. He has called for an alliance with the Roman
Catholic Church on moral issues.

Alexy's comments on homosexuality provoked the most direct challenge
to West European liberal thinking and the ideas of nondiscrimination
pioneered by the Council of Europe, among other bodies.

Asked by the British Liberal Democrat council member David Russell-
Johnston about the Orthodox Church's opposition to a planned gay
pride march in Moscow, Alexy said that his religion told him to "love
sinners despite their sins."

He added, however, that "no one should force me and my brothers and
sisters in faith to keep quiet when we call something a sin when it
is a sin according to the word of God."

Homosexuality is, he continued "an illness" and a "distortion of the
human personality like kleptomania. " The patriarch portrayed the gay
rights parade in Moscow as advertising for immoral behavior and
asked: "Why don't we have advertising for kleptomania? "

The comments drew applause from a number of council members from
Orthodox countries including Russia, which is a member of the Council
of Europe.

Russell-Johnston said later that the analogy drawn between
homosexuality and kleptomania was "ridiculous. "

The patriarch had, Russell-Johnston said, "repeated his aggressively
intolerant position."

"What was regrettable was that a lot of people applauded him,"
Russell-Johnston said. This contradicted the position of the
parliamentary assembly that "homosexuals and lesbians have human
rights and their dignity should be respected."

In May 2006, violence against homosexuals prompted Terry Davis,
secretary general of the Council of Europe, to urge the Russian
authorities to prosecute those involved in the attacks which, he
said, were "neither isolated nor spontaneous. "

After the patriarch's appearance Tuesday, Davis, who held a 30-minute
private meeting with Alexy, described the reference to kleptomania as
an "unfortunate analogy." He praised Russell-Johnston for raising the
issue, but added that the patriarch was "entitled to his view as a
religious leader." Gay rights were not discussed during their private
meeting, Davis said.

Davis also highlighted other areas of Alexy's speech, including his
criticism of the growing gap between rich and poor in Russia, and the
growing materialism of Russian society.

Other senior figures in the council also emphasized the symbolism of
the patriarch's appearance for the cause of intercultural dialogue.
Ren� van der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly, said
that through his "strong public condemnation of xenophobia, extremism
and ethnically motivated crimes," Alexy had demonstrated
his "commitment to peace and mutual respect."

Alexandr

Why does the Patriarch always comment on supposed Catholic "activities" in Russia, such as creating new dioceses?

I am sure that he would create them in Italy if there were beginning to be more Orthodox there. It seems to be a sort of double standard.

And Europe responds:

http://newsfromruss ia.com/world/ europe/04- 10-2007/98211- orthodox_ church-0

Europe revolts against lesson of morality from Russian Orthodox Church
04.10.2007 Source: AP � URL:
http://english. pravda.ru/ world/europe/ 98211-orthodox_ church-0

Russian and foreign mass media released a variety
of comments regarding the recent appearance of
the head of the Russian Orthodox Church,
Patriarch Alexy II, at a session of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

It was the first time in history that a senior
religious leader of Russia�s largest confession
appeared in front of PACE delegates. More
importantly, it was the first visit of Alexy II to a Catholic country.

The Novye Izvestia newspaper reports that the
appearance of Alexy II before delegates in
Strasbourg gave rise to an active discussion even
long before the visit to France. Journalists
conjectured whether the Patriarch would speak as
a good preacher or as a stern denouncer. In April
Alexy II said that during a planned appearance
before the Council of Europe he would speak about
the Christian values that Western Europe was
unfortunately losing when propagandized sin.

In an interview to La Vie journal the Patriarch
said that Russians brought up according to the
Orthodox Christian tradition had their own view
upon many of modern problems. A truly
All-European cooperation can not be established
if this view is not taken into consideration, Alexy II said.

The Patriarch�s speech at the Council of Europe
is treated as an appearance of a high-ranking
politician. Le Figaro calls the Russian Orthodox
Church �the only stable institution in unstable
Russia�. The manner of Alexy�s speaking is always
smooth and non-aggressive, right the way it is
typical of heavyweight politicians.

In his speech in PACE the Patriarch did not
mention openly that mentioning �the unique code�,
Christian values, was not included into a draft
constitution of the European Union in spite of
the fact that representatives of Catholic Spain
and Poland had insisted that they must be
included into the document. The Russian Patriarch
emphasized that the present-day gap in the
correlation between human rights and morals was
disastrous for the European civilization. He said
the gap was aggravated with �the appearance of a
new generation of rights that contradict morality
and the attempts to justify immoral doings with
human rights�. Alexy II thinks that when morality
is not applied for estimation of authority�s
doings this makes social problems even more insoluble.

According to the Russian patriarch, poor
knowledge of religion fundamentals paves the way
for extremism and terrorism including those that
use religious slogans as a cover. It is important
he says for people to start learning religious
tradition of their own and also other religions.
For people of different religions to have normal
co-living in one society they should be taught
religion fundamentals at public schools. Younger
generations he said should have an opportunity to
study their own religious traditions at school
and also have a notion of other religions� traditions.

However, the Russian Patriarch revealed a
categorical attitude of the Russian Orthodox
Church to gay parades and sexual minorities.
Alexy II said that the Russian Orthodox Church
treated attempts to organize gay pride parades in
Moscow as propaganda and advertising of a sin. He
said homosexuality was an illness and distortion
of the human personality like kleptomania and
asked: �Why don�t we have advertising for
kleptomania?� But at the same time Alexy II added
that his religion told him to love sinners
despite their sins. The Patriarch�s comparison of
homosexuality with kleptomania won a storm of
applause of Russian delegates while others
abstained from demonstrative comments on the issue.

The Patriarch warned Council of Europe delegates
that a break between human rights and morality
threatened the European civilization. At that
Alexy II emphasized that people should fight
against the sin not sinners and respect the moral teaching of the Bible.

But the Russian Patriarch added that the
government must not interfere with a human�s
private life as it is an individual�s free choice to be moral or immoral.

The Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper states that the
Patriarch�s appearance before the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly was the first one
of such a top level. The Russian Orthodox Church
is the first and the only confession represented
in the Council of Europe as a state. In 2005, the
Patriarch approved opening a representative
office of the Church in the Council of Europe for
establishment of a steady and regular dialogue.

According to the Russian Patriarch, no ideology
including a secular one can enjoy monopoly in
Europe or all over the world. And this is why he
thinks that religion can not be forced out from
the public space. It is time to admit that a
religious motivation can exist in the public sphere as well, Alexy II said.

One of the delegates asked the Patriarch his
attitude to death penalty, and Alexy II responded
that the church always stood up for keeping the
lives of both unborn babies and criminals. At
that his speech was highly emotional.

As the Patriarch said, technological progress
gives a new interpretation of human rights. The
faithful have their own opinion on biological
ethics, electronic identification and other
branches of technological progress that make many
people anxious. The Kommersant newspaper cited
the Patriarch as saying that a human must always
remain a human not an article under the control
of electronic systems always available for experiments.

Europeans felt that Alexy II was most critical
when touched upon Europe�s very popular religion of political correctness.

Yesterday, Gazeta GZT.ru reported upon the
Patriarch�s appearance in the Council of Europe
in a publication titled �Russia disregards
engagements in the Council of Europe but
Patriarch Alexy II teaches Europe morality�.

Russia is the main respondent in the European
Court for Human Rights but the Court is not
satisfied with cooperation with Russia. Delegates
of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly
adopted a resolution that requires that member
countries should maintain cooperation on all
stages of the judicial procedure. According to
the Assembly, violation of the law in Northern
Caucasus was the most scandalous.

Source: agencies

Translated by Maria Gousseva
Pravda.ru

Alexandr

Good for His Holiness for his speaking out on a variety of issues, in a brave way. He cared not for political correctness (which is quite refreshing), yet spoke the truth with firmness, compassion and love. May God grant that his wise words may plant seed in the hearts of those assembled there.

Alice

P.S. I don't think that the subject title is accurate, nor does it do the entire article justice, and I do think that it was purposely written that way to rile people up. Shame on the journalist who wrote it that way!!

I sometimes take issue with what His Holiness has spoken politically in the past, but this time, he is spot on! Too bad that in this country, he would be charged with hate crime for speaking the truth!

Alexandr

Indeed, I have not always agreed with everything that His Holiness has said on some matters, but absolutely *everything* in this article needed to be said to the European representatives assembled!

Alice

I agree, Alice.

The Church most hold to her values, even if they are not accepted by the secular world. The Church must not compromise her stand on these issues.

Much of mainline Christianity is rationalistic and has given up belief in the supernatural, in the incarnation and resurrection. They have also given up Christian morality.

We are looked upon as bigots these days if we disagree with same sex relationships; but we do not hate homosexual persons, but teach that God does not will same sex relationships.

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches are the only venerable established institutions in Europe maintaining Christian values in this area.



Lance

I agree with this 100%



I wish more of the "other" ones did though. Let us hope it brings our two churches ever closer together.

Prayers for His Holiness.

May God grant him many years in His service. May God grant Patriarch Alexy TO US for many years and may His Holiness continue with his prophetic witness to the Gospel.

I posted an instruction from Pope St. Gregory the Great to bishops and priests that makes His Holiness a good example for us today.

In Christ,

BOB

The Patriarch, faithful in his courage, spoke the truth in charity, on the homosexual issue as well on unborn babies. May Christian values prevail, at least in the churches! in the harsh circumstances of modern secularist thought. Yours in Christ,

Robert, You may remember that the RCC says the EOC sacraments are valid. If so, why is there a need for a Catholic presence in an Orthodox country? BTW, there is an orthodox presence in Italy.

Sorry for answering to a question addressed to another.
Why is there a need for Catholic presence in Russia? Because Catholics have the right to exist; they are people as the others; they are humans, not subhumans as they are treated sometimes. They have the same rights as non-Catholics have, including the right to religious freedom, the right to be represented politically and the right to own (their) properties. What the Russian patriarch does is an anti-Christian act; he does not pay respect to human rights. Christ died on the Cross to make the man free and he (the patriarch) preaches against the rights of the man redeemed by Jesus.
You've said, John, that there is an Orthodox presence in Italy. The Orthodox have the right to express their faith in Italy and all over the Western Europe; this thing is normal; they even have eparchial bishops and at least one metropolitan, don't they? Some of these bishops are in direct ecclesiastical communion with Patriarch Alexei; why does then this patriarch preach against Catholic presence in Russia? Is Russia his garden, his own property? I don't think so. Russia is the home for Russian citizens, no matter their religious affiliation.
Why do Catholics then need Catholic priests when the sacraments of the Orthodox Churches are valid? They are, indeed, valid., but a Catholic faithful is allowed to receive them when there is no priest of his own faith to celebrate them. This does not mean that the Catholic Church has to leave his own faithfuls to be educated by the Orthodox Churches. And you shouldn't forget that the Catholic Church believes that it contains all the means for salvation unlike other Churches or communities; this is the Catholic teaching.
All in all, the principle of reciprocity should be the instrument to opening our mind. I hope that high rank priests will do the same.

What would you say to the statement, "They are Russian. They should be Orthodox"?

There is a way to have a presence and be respectful, but some would say that wasn't the case with the Catholic missionary work in the late 19th century.

I can understand the anger an Evangelical would produce when he goes into a Russian mission and convinces people to abandon their priests, believe in Jesus, and to come to a community church he founded. Would a Catholic presence be the cause for similar anger?

Terry

Luciantodoran,

Not to mention the fact that the Orthodox, apparently, would not allow Catholics without local clergy to receive the Sacraments without converting to Orthodoxy. They could attend Divine Liturgy, as I understand it, and that's it.

Michael

Not quite right.

On January 25 and June 21 1867, the Holy Synod of the Church of Russia issued decrees that stated:

"In those places where there are no Greek-Uniate Churches and clergy, Orthodox Priests are granted the right to perform Needs and Mysteries for persons of the Greek-Uniate confession, when the latter shall ask them about this."

See, and you thought that we sit around burning you guys in effigy!

Alexandr