Russian Orthodox Church Suspends Relations With Swedish Lutherans Over Gay Marriages
Created: 27.12.2005

The Moscow Patriarchate has suspended relations with the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Sweden after it decided to establish an official ceremony to bless homosexual couples, the Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday.

“We have received with great disappointment and grief the news that not only does the Lutheran Church of Sweden not oppose so-called homosexual marriages, but has even ruled to establish an official blessing ceremony,” the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church said in a statement at a session in Moscow.

The members of the Synod believe that the Church of Sweden’s decision contradicts the Biblical concept of family and marriage “and the testimonies of the Holy Writing leave us no doubt that homosexuality is considered a sin and ’confusion’,” the statement says. Story