Russian Orthodox Church Ends Ties With Protestants Over Gay Marriage

http://www.rferl.org ^ | June 04, 2015 | By RFE/RL

[bad company]

The Russian Orthodox Church says it is severing ties with the main protestant churches of France and Scotland over the issue of same-sex unions.

The Moscow Patriarchate said on June 3 that "formal contacts" with the two institutions were pointless after France's United Protestant Church last month voted to allow pastors to bless same-sex marriages and the Church of Scotland approved ordaining clergy in same-sex civil unions.

"We regretfully acknowledge, that today we have a new divide in the Christian world, not only regarding theological subjects, but regarding moral issues as well," the patriarchate said in a statement.

The Moscow Patriarchate noted that it had previously suspended ties with the U.S. Episcopal Church in 2003 after it consecrated an openly gay bishop, and with Sweden's Lutheran Church after it sanctioned ceremonies for civil unions in 2005.

The Russian Orthodox Church has been a leading voice of support for what Kremlin critics call the Russian government's systematic crackdown on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people's rights in recent years.

[Fai Mao]

Bravo

[cherry]

can I join?

[SoFloFreeper]

God bless the ROC for doing this; I hope anyone Orthodox believers on this forum realize that not ALL Protestant Christians embrace this unbiblical behaviour.

[Unam Sanctam]

Are they still a member of the World Council of Churches?

[bad company]

Looks like they still are. No telling how this effects that.

[jimjohn]

And isn’t ROC the majority region in Russia?

[bad company]

Yep.

[NRx]

“can I join?”

Yep. I did about ten years ago. The welcome mat is always out.

[Zionist Conspirator]

When is the KGB-run Moscow Patriarchate and the current Russian government going to come clean about the fact that it was their agents who started the slide to the sewer in order to weaken and destroy the west? You'll notice that none of this insanity ever took root in the Communist countries themselves--and today Cuba, Venezuela, Red China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Laos still are absolutely free of the sickness they've inflicted on the rest of us (as are the moslem countries).

Germany hand to acknowledge its guilt after WWII. The Emperor of Japan had to acknowledge he was not divine. When are the Russians, who started all this, going to fess up and apologize???