Orthodox Church Opposes International Agreement Denying Biological Gender

The Bible reads: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Originally appeared at: Global Orthodox

The Moldovan Orthodox Church has raised its voice against the ratification of the Istanbul convention, supported by the majority in the Moldovan Parliament. The so-called Istanbul convention is the Council of Europe human rights treaty aimed at preventing domestic violence as well as violence against women. It was opened for signature on May 11, 2011, in Istanbul, Turkey.

In its letter to Maia Sandu, the President of Moldova, the Moldovan Orthodox Church points out that the document contains “vague phrasing and juridical nuances which can have most serious circumstances for our society.” The convention erodes the very notion of human biological gender, the letter says. “It is for the first time that the international agreement does not define a term ‘gender’ as a ‘biological sex’, but as a ‘social construct’. It implies that an individual is born neutral, which in its turn leads to a conclusion that the gender can be changed. Hence, the convention denies the existence of a man and a woman as objective reality.”

This, the Church states, contradicts the Bible, which reads: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

The letter also noted that, though opposing all kinds of violence, the Moldovan Orthodox Church has never supported the Istanbul convention. “More than once the Church spoke against ratifying the Istanbul convention, and now we pray to God to give wisdom to our lawmakers.”

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