Greece has become the first majority-Orthodox Christian nation to legalize same-sex marriage under civil law. At least for the near future, it will almost certainly be the only one.
Eastern Orthodox leadership, despite lacking a single doctrinal authority like a pope, has been united in opposing recognition of same-sex relationships both within its own rites and in the civil realm. Public opinion in majority Orthodox countries has mostly been opposed, too.
But there are some signs of change. Two small majority-Orthodox countries, Montenegro and Cyprus, have authorized same-sex unions in recent years, as did Greece in 2015 before upgrading to full marital status on Feb. 15.
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Civil unions may become more common among Orthodox countries gravitating toward the European Union. They remain off the table in Russia, which has cracked down on LGBTQ+ expression, and countries in its orbit.
THE ORTHODOX WORLD
Photo: Reuters 照片：路透
Eastern Orthodoxy is a socially conservative, ancient church with elaborate rituals and a strict hierarchy. Churches are mostly organized along national lines, with multiple independent churches that share ancient doctrine and practices and that both cooperate and squabble.
Roughly 200 million Eastern Orthodox live primarily in Eastern Europe and neighboring Asian lands, with about half that total in Russia, while smaller numbers live across the world. Like other international church bodies, Orthodoxy has confronted calls for LGBTQ+ inclusion.
A 2016 statement by a council of most Orthodox churches called marriage between a man and a woman “the oldest institution of divine law” and said members were forbidden from entering same-sex unions.
Photo: Bloomberg 照片：彭博社
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, considered the first among equals among Orthodox leaders, affirmed that stance in a statement after the Greek vote. But he added that the church must respond to members in such unions “with pastoral responsibility and in Christ-like love.”
In countries where they are a majority, Orthodox believers overwhelmingly said society should not accept homosexuality or approve same-sex marriage, according to surveys conducted in 2015 and 2016 by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank.
Greek Orthodox showed relative tolerance, with half of Orthodox saying homosexuality should be accepted and a quarter favoring same-sex marriage. In more recent polls, Greeks overall narrowly supported the marriage law.
The Greek law validates marriage in the civil realm but doesn’t require any church to perform such rites.
Nevertheless, Greece’s Orthodox leadership unanimously opposed the law in January, saying the “duality of genders and their complementarity are not social inventions but originate from God.”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged the church’s position but said, “We are discussing the decisions of the Greek state, unrelated to theological beliefs.”
Civil unions may be in some Orthodox countries’ near future, said George Demacopoulos, director of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center at Fordham University in New York.
“In terms of civil marriage, I think the countries that are in the European Union will eventually all do it,” Demacopoulos said. “My guess is the assemblies of bishops in those countries will offer some resistance to the measure, and depending on where you are, that may or may not delay it.”
(AP)
希臘成為第一個以民法將同性婚姻合法化的東正教基督教國家，這在東正教國家中幾乎會是後無來者，至少在短期的未來確是如此。
東正教並無像教宗一樣的教義單一權威來領導，但對於反對承認同性婚姻，卻一直都是口徑一致，無論在宗教儀式或民事上皆然。大多數東正教國家的輿論也多持反對態度。
但也有一些轉變的跡象。蒙特內哥羅和賽浦勒斯這兩個以東正教為主的小國，近年已批准同性婚姻，希臘也在2015年批准了同性婚姻，但2月15日升級為完全婚姻狀態。
在立場偏歐盟的東正教國家中，民事結合可能會變得更普遍，但在俄羅斯及其周邊國家則是免談，俄羅斯一直在打擊LGBTQ+的言論。
東正教世界
東正教是個保守的古老教派，有複雜的儀式和嚴格的階級制度。教派多以國家來劃分，有多個獨立的教會，也有共同的古老教義與實踐方式，既合作又意見相左。
大約兩億東正教徒主要生活在東歐和鄰近的亞洲地區，其中約一半在俄羅斯，少部分在世界各地。與其他國際教會機構一樣，東正教也面臨包容LGBTQ+的呼聲。
大多數東正教會的理事會在2016年發表聲明，稱男女之間的婚姻是「神聖律法最古老的制度」，並表示禁止成員進入同性婚姻。
君士坦丁堡〔即伊斯坦堡〕宗主教巴爾多祿茂被認為是東正教地位最高的領袖〔君士坦丁堡普世牧首〕，他在希臘國會投票後發表的聲明中確認了此立場。但他補充說，教會必須「以牧養責任和基督般的愛」來回應進入同性結合的成員。
華盛頓智庫皮尤研究中心在2015年及2016年進行的調查顯示，在東正教信徒佔多數的國家，絕大多數人表示社會不應接納同性戀或批准同性婚姻。
希臘東正教表現出相對寬容，東正教徒有一半認為應接納同性戀，四分之一的人支持同性婚姻。在最近的民意調查中，希臘人總體上以些微優勢支持同婚法。
希臘的同婚法律承認婚姻在民事領域的有效性，但並未要求任何教會舉行同婚儀式。
儘管如此，希臘東正教領導層在一月一致反對這項法律，並表示「性別二元性及其互補性不是社會發明，而是源自上帝」。
希臘總理基里亞科斯‧米佐塔基斯承認教會的立場，但表示：「我們是在討論希臘國家的決定，與神學信仰無關」。
紐約福坦莫大學東正教研究中心主任喬治‧德馬科普洛斯表示，民事結合在不久的將來可能會出現在一些東正教國家。
「就民事婚姻而言，我認為歐盟國家最終都會這樣做」，德馬科普洛斯說。「我的猜測是，這些國家的主教會議將對此議案做出一些抵制，這可能會也可能不會延遲法案的通過，端看是在什麼地方」。
（台北時報林俐凱編譯）
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