By Metropolitan Gabriel of Nea Ionia, Philadelphia, Heraklion and Chalkidona
There is a lot of talk about new forms of family and new definitions of human relationships, about people's sexual choices and directions. The prevailing reason is for the personal rights of all people, for the absolute freedom to choose partners, but there is also the shallow sexuality that leads to brief pleasures.
We easily place labels on everything that we find difficult for us, on everything that does not agree with us, such as e.g. "racist", "liberal", "immoral", "conservative", "homophobic", etc. Nowhere, however, is the label "human"!
In Orthodox theology, things are absolutely clear. "Male and female did God create them" (Gen. 1:27). In Cana of Galilee, Christ blessing the marriage (Jn. 2:1-11) we come across a family relationship between man and woman, with the aim of uniting the two in one body and their common path to heaven, without of course the condition of childbearing, as many mistakenly believe.
