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Minutes of the 27 December 2005 meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church

No. 100

Issue: On the situation that has arisen in the Russian Orthodox Church's relations with the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Sweden in connection with the latter's decision to bless the so-called "same-sex unions".

Decision: To suspend relations with the Lutheran Church of Sweden and to make a statement accordingly (see below).

Statement

of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church in connection with the decision of the General Assembly of the Church of Sweden to establish an official rite to bless same-sex couples, taken on December 27

We have received with great disappointment and grief the news that not only does the Lutheran Church of Sweden not oppose so-called same-sex marriages, but has even ruled to establish an official blessing ceremony.

It is obvious that this decision contradicts the Biblical concept of family and marriage. The testimonies of the Holy Writ leave us no doubt that homosexuality is considered a sin and "abomination" (Levit. 18:22, 20:13). According to the word of Apostle Paul, the people who commit this sin "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9-11). The blessing of 'same-sex marriages' means approving of the sinful distortion of the image of God in man, the distortion of his very nature.

The Christian church has always held marriage between a man and a woman as one of the Sacraments, for it is through this union that a new life is born. This natural way of things was established by God and received the blessing of Our Lord Jesus Christ at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. The attempts to break this way and to represent perversion as the norm are an open opposition to the will of God, as well as a transgression against the commandments of the Holy Writ and the centuries of ecclesiastic tradition.

Rejecting unnatural vices, including homosexuality, has always been a most important part of Christian morality, which has formed and brought up many generations. That is why the approval of the shameful practice of 'same-sex marriages' is a heavy blow against the whole system of European spiritual and moral values that were formed under the influence of Christianity. Such 'innovations' erode the moral foundations of the European civilisation and do irreparable damage to its spiritual influence in the world.

We have always appreciated highly the good relations that the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of Sweden have been enjoying. Representatives of our Church have taken active part in a range of joint projects, seeing them as a unique opportunity to bear witness together to the values of Christianity in the modern Europe and the whole world. But the above-mentioned decision taken by the Church of Sweden, which we cannot perceive as anything other than a step away from the fundamental norms of Christian morality, makes us announce suspension in our relations.

source: http://eng.sedmitza.ru/index.html?did=1623