Greece: government set to legalise same-sex marriage
Greece's conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants to fulfil an election promise to introduce same-sex marriage in the country. The issue has triggered fierce debate in Greek society. The toughest opposition comes from the influential Orthodox Church, with some bishops even threatening MPs with excommunication.
Convergence with Europe
Alex Patelis, economic adviser to the Greek prime minister, writes in the pro-government newspaper Kathimerini:
“If we look at a map of the countries which have legislated marriage equality, we will observe that the difference between the continents of Europe and America versus Asia and Africa is clear. Such are countries that highly value freedom as well as equality under the law. Because ultimately, such values lead to actual, real-life prosperity. These are countries in which many want to live. We joined the European Economic Community (EEC) as its 10th member in 1981. Shouldn’t we become the 16th European Union member-state to legislate marriage equality? ....The adoption of marriage equality serves the national goal of convergence with Europe.”
The Church's moral wall is crumbling
The protests from within the Church will eventually die down, Protagon predicts:
“The Church has centuries of experience. It knows very well that some things cannot be stopped. You have to come to terms with them and adapt to new conditions. This is exactly what the Pope is doing when he tells priests that it is not forbidden to bless same-sex couples. On the other hand, same-sex marriage, one might say, is the removal of another stone from the moral wall built up by religion over the centuries. If we fast-forward the timeline, we see that the power and influence of the Church is changing inversely to the progress of societies.”