According to an article in the Pink News the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has said that although homosexuality is still a sin, gay people must not be discriminated against.

Continuing to read the article reveals that Patriarch Kirill has made a number of statements that reveal he is no liberal.

In March 2007, Kirill objected to Moscow hosting a gay pride parade.

It is directed against the majority of Russian society.

We believe that the law should not interfere in citizens’ private lives.

You can sin if you want to, but you will answer to God.

However, if you are trying to propagate your sin by seducing and degrading people, society must oppose it.

Patriarch Kirill doesn’t want LGBT people discriminated against, but equally he doesn’t want them parading in Moscow, its the seducing and degrading he worries about. The propagation of sin is causing him sleepless nights.

I don’t think Patriarch Kirill fears these things very much. What Patriarch Kirill fears is that elements of Russian society will start to think that it is okay for LGBT to be open about their sexuality. They will see these LGBT people proud and happy about themselves and they might think that you can live a lifestyle which does not have the approval of the Patriarch and be a happy contented individual.

The Patriarch and his ilk in other major churches are not fearful of LGBT people themselves but rather they fear the possibility of society accepting them. This is why the Patriarch will oppose discrimination against gay people, but equally oppose them having a parade in Moscow. For society to become liberal and tolerant of LGBT people it means that it is adopting its own social values and not those of the church.

In the Pink News article Patriarch Kirill is quoted:

The task of the Church is to say that sin is sin. Otherwise, the Church is not needed.

If people start to decide for themselves what is sin and what is not sin then the Church is not needed. That’s what Patriarch Kirill fears.