Insights Into Contemporary Moral Issues

CIRCUMCISION

It is known that Jews and Moslems practice circumcisions for religious reasons. Some physicians deem circumcision necessary for reasons of health and cleanliness. The Orthodox Church does not prohibit circumcision so long as it is not practiced for spiritual or religious reasons. Orthodox believers are not bound by the lapsed law of Moses.

SUICIDE

No believer is permitted to take the life of another and likewise cannot take his own life. Suicide is murder, self-inflicted and therefore a grave sin. Committing suicide signified a loss in the perception of the goodness of our heavenly Father and shows that patience, hope and faith in God has been lost. A person of faith, regardless how great the difficulties he or she faces, must never resort to suicide as a so-called solution to problems in life. Orthodoxy denies Christian burial of one who knowingly commits suicide. Only when a physician certifies that such a sad victim of circumstances has indeed lost sanity entirely does the church permit the final obsequities be celebrated with recourse to the diocesan hierarch, mandatory in such cases.

AUTOPSY

When the cause of illness has not been diagnosed, physicians with the permission of the nearest responsible relative, generally conduct an autopsy which is also required in some cases by civil law. Often an autopsy leads to enlightenment for the physicians in treating future similar cases. Because of this, Orthodoxy does not oppose the autopsy of its deceased members. Because the human body of a believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit, we must insist that those who perform such medical procedures accord the utmost respect to the earthly remains.

CREMATION OF THE DEAD

Various groups, instead of burial, prefer the cremation of the dead, which was customary among many ancient people. The Orthodox Church, mindful of the fact that the human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, imitates the practice of the Lord in His earthly burial for the disposition of the bodies of its faithful believers. Believers do not deliberately destroy the body in life or in death. We imitate the practice of the martyrs, the saints and the Old Covenant Church. Consequently, cremation is contrary to the faith and tradition of our Church and is expressly forbidden to Orthodox believers. A church funeral is denied a person who has been or will be cremated. Requiem services afterwards are also forbidden because the person in question has already abandoned all hope in the Lord and prayers and therefore useless for such a soul.

ABORTION

Since the Supreme Court has civilly legalized abortion in this nation, some remain confused about the teaching of the Church. Orthodox tradition has opposed this immoral practice as contrary to the will of God for mankind. Those who assist and those who participate in abortion sever themselves from the life of the Church and may not receive the Sacraments until they are reconciled through penance. Absolution may not be offered by the pastor until consultation has taken place with the hierarch of the diocese and the necessary reintegration into the life of the Church has taken place through spiritual counseling and repentance and confession of this heinous sin.

COHABITATION

It is a misnomer to call these relationships "marriages" because they are in truth an attempt to secure social approval for a sexual escapade under the cloak and seeming commitment and pretext of marriage. Those involved in such experiments cannot receive the Sacraments of the Church as they voluntarily place themselves beyond the ability of the Church to save their souls. They who wish to enter a valid marriage must agree to separate and abstain from any sexual activity. They must immediately avail themselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which they express sincere remorse and repentance satisfactory to the priest-confessor for this public scandal in their lives. A public wedding for people who live together beforehand would appear by the Church to give tacit approval and blessing to such an unacceptable and immoral practice. In all cases of cohabitation, the marriage may be solemnized privately and prudently with only two witnesses present and after considerable care is exercised pastorally that the two individuals will in fact be faithful to Christ in the future. There must be a separation fixed by the pastor prior to the sacramental marriage and evidence must be given they are living apart and not sexually associated. Only in cases where a child is the result of such an immoral life can an exception be made.

AIDS VICTIMS

This vast epidemic in our very midst is reason for alarm and pity for faithful believers. While Orthodoxy does condemn the activity of so many who are so afflicted, it does excite its faithful believers to pity and soulful concern for the victims. We must bear in mind that while we abhor the sin, we continue to love the sinner. In those circumstances where it is obvious, reconciliation with Christ must take place in the Sacraments only when remorse and repentance are present. In such cases, Christian burial is permitted.

SPONSORS IN NON-ORTHODOX CHURCHES

Roman Catholic and Byzantine Catholic churches require but one sponsor at Baptism who is of their faith. Many times our faithful are asked to sponsor a child in this sacrament in their church. Our pastors will issue a sponsor certificate to our faithful in these cases where the Orthodox believer is a practicing member of the Church which means attendance at the Divine Liturgy, regular sacramental life along with a serious attempt made at living the commandments of Christ. We cannot encourage our faithful being sponsors for any other communions because of the theological variance which exists between our Churches. Orthodox believers should simply respond when called upon by various sectarians to act in this capacity that our Orthodox Church does not permit our participation in the faith practices of Protestant Churches.

MERCY KILLING

The Orthodox Church has since time immemorial honored life and exalted the faithful believer as a child of God. Those who themselves plan and others who participate with them in the destruction of life place themselves outside the salutary grace of Christ and His Church. If the victim has given advance consent to such a heinous practice, Christian burial is excluded and no memorials or Divine Liturgies may be celebrated for the repose of such a soul unless it may be medically proved the individual in question was totally depraved and psychologically and spiritually bereft of normal good reason. Anyone who participates in assisting such a person is placing himself beyond the ability of the Church to redeem him and is guilty of actual murder. The ordinary canonical and Scriptural penalties are to be invoked in such cases which provide for a denial of Christian burial, sacramental participation unless and until necessary remorse and repentance are evidenced in the Sacrament of Reconciliation in which absolution can only be granted with the express consent of the hierarch of the diocese.

HOMOSEXUALITY

However dismayed, the Holy Church approaches this problem as one of a deep and profound personality and moral disorder that is based upon an erroneous perception of God's creation. She nevertheless embraces those who recognize the sinfulness in their lives and with a serious and sincere effort make every effort to permit God's grace to lead them to salvation. Those afflicted must recognize an abandonment of sinful inclination must be made. This is possible only in the life of the Church. With the assistance of a devoted spiritual confessor and whatever psychological assistance might be deemed necessary, the Church is eager to integrate such souls into her life. Although the behavior many times may be reoriented, it is understood the elementary problem may always persist, but the grace of the Holy Spirit, readily available in the Sacraments of the Church makes up for what is wanting in the individual. Christians in Orthodoxy may not live this lifestyle. There is no acceptability of homosexual behavior or activity within the life of the Church of Christ simply because it is contrary to nature itself and is characterized in God's Revelation as idolatrous. We once again are called upon to hate the robbery, but love the thief. Holy Mother Church always embraces into the treasure of her soul those who are repentant, but never the sin or cause of sin into the treasury of Her holy wisdom. The homosexual, therefore, to be faithful to Christ and the promise of salvation, must abandon the lifestyle and practice of gross immorality and assume voluntarily the life of chastity for the glory of Christ and the good of their own soul. The absolute necessity of a spiritual confessor is mandatory. Those who persist in this practice cannot receive the sacraments and will be refused Christian burial because of the scandal their lifestyle arouses in faithful believers.

ORGAN DONATIONS

Orthodoxy praises the deep and profound love its communicants express in offering parts of themselves beyond death as a contribution to the life sustaining forces of another person. As long as those donors and physicians exert every effort to show reverence for the remains of the donor and the donor is clear in his intentions that life be improved and bettered for the recipient, Orthodoxy praises such caring individuals. In advance of such an occasion and opportunity, the donor is encouraged to unite himself in prayer that his offering be worthily accepted before the throne of the Eternal Father and in the life and being of the recipient. The body and organs of a donor should not be offered for experimentation but solely for the life and good health of a fellow human being.

BODILY INTEGRITY

Faithful believers must be desirous of preserving their bodily integrity. Our heavenly Father has created us in His own image. Although sin has destroyed our likeness to Him, it is our Christian vocation which prompts us to restore it in the life of the Church. Except for extreme medical reasons, it is not permitted an Orthodox believer to submit to vasectomies and tubal legations for the express reason of inhibiting procreative ability. This violates the image of the body of man and woman as we received it from our Creator and which we are called upon in our Orthodox Christian vocation to return intact and integral, if this is His will, at the time of departure from this vale of tears. Only in those cases where professional physicians warrant such procedures to avert life-threatening circumstances, are they accepted by the spiritual life of the Church of Christ.