RUSSIAâS ORTHODOX Church has backed the Vaticanâs position on homosexuals in seminaries, and accused Protestant denominations of âsuccumbing to secular valuesâ over the issue. âHomosexuality was called a sin in Holy Scripture â thereâs no possibility of any other interpretation,â said Fr Igor Vyzhanov, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchateâs Commission for Inter-Christian Dialogue. âThere are certain differences in how we handle candidates for priesthood, since celibacy is obligatory for Catholics whereas Orthodox can marry if they donât aspire to hierarchical posts. But thereâs total agreement between both Churches as concerns candidatesâ homosexual tendencies.â
The priest was speaking a fortnight after an instruction by the Vaticanâs Congregation for Catholic Education reaffirmed the Catholic Churchâs âprofound respectâ for homosexuals, but said Catholic seminaries should not admit students for ordination who âpractise homosexuality, present deep-seated homosexual tendencies or support the so-called âgay cultureââ.
He told Russiaâs Interfax newsagency Orthodox leaders were âastonishedâ at attempts by Protestant communities âto revise Biblical teachingsâ, believing it reflected their âdependence on influence from secular currents devoid of all moral foundationsâ.
âHomosexuals should be viewed as people suffering from a serious illness,â said Fr Vyzhanov, who handles the Russian Churchâs ties with Catholics. âIf laypeople are forbidden to engage in homosexual acts, so much more should priesthood candidates and Church people seek not political correctness, but a firm foundation for their faith in life.â
The comments came as another Russian Orthodox leader repeated his call for a âCatholic-Orthodox Allianceâ to negotiate with European institutions and other faiths on behalf of âtraditional Christianityâ.
âThe main themes would be social, ethical and bioethical questions and family policy,â Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, the Churchâs representative to the European Union, told an inter-Church conference in Vienna. âBut the group could also work out a code of behaviour for Catholics in predominantly Orthodox countries and for Orthodox in Catholic countries. In this way, it could contribute to overcoming the problem of proselytism.â
Catholic-Orthodox ties have long been tense in Russia and Eastern Europe over Orthodox complaints of Catholic proselytism, as well as over the revival of Greek or Eastern Catholic churches, who combine the eastern liturgy with loyalty to Rome and are known pejoratively as âUniatesâ by Orthodox leaders.
An International Commission for Catholic-Orthodox Theological Dialogue met again this week in Rome, five years after breaking down over the issue of âUniatismâ at its last session in Baltimore, in the United States.
Bishop Hilarion said he believed Catholic Bishopsâ Conferences should âunite their effortsâ with Orthodox Churches to stem Europeâs ârapid de-Christianisationâ and prevent the continent from losing its âcenturies-old Christian identityâ.