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| Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev's Patriarchy. Picture: Genya SavilovAFP Source:AFP |
Sometimes, you just can't help wondering if there is something in this karma stuff after all, especially when you hear news like this.
The Ukrainian Orthodox priest, Patriarch Filaret, who blamed the coronavirus pandemic on same-sex marriage, has contracted Covid-19.
According to this report:
The 91-year-old, who is the Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kiev Patriarchate, is currently in a stable condition being treated in hospital, with Ukrainian website 11.2 international also reporting he has pneumonia. Filaret’s church, which is said to have more than 15 million followers among Ukraine’s 42 million population, confirmed the COVID-19 diagnosis in a Facebook post.In March, this year, at the start of the pandemic, Patriarch Filaret told Ukrainian TV Channel 4:We inform that during planned testing, His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of Kiev and All Rus-Ukraine tested positive for COVID-19. Now His Holiness Bishop is undergoing treatment at a hospital.” Filaret caused controversy earlier this year after he made comments about the coronavirus being a result of gay marriage.
[The pandemic is] God’s punishment for the sins of men, the sinfulness of humanity. First of all, I mean same-sex marriage.It's hardly surprising that someone that ignorant would be unable to understand the science and the reasons for the social distancing measures taken to control the spread of the virus, so would be more likly to contract it. There is also the serious risk from attending a place of worship. For example, people in the US state of Maryland were recently found by a Johns Hopkins Blomberg Survey to be 16 times more likely to catch Covid-19 if they visited a place of worship than if they never did so.
He was joined by a chorus of church leaders of all denominations who declared that the pandemic was divine retribution for the emerging 'sin' of homosexual rights. Filaret defended his claim by saying it was consistent with Ukrainian Laws. Same-sex marriage is still illegal in Ukraine where homophobia is rife and discrimination and victimisation of homosexuals is commonplace.
Earlier this year the Ukrainian Parliament refused to back a Council of Europe human rights treaty which was intended to protect women from domestic violence because it said the references to sexual orientation and gender violated 'Christian values'. Christian values that, apparently, allow husbands to beat their wives and encourage demonisation, dehumanisation and victimisation of people based on their sexuality.
Hopefully, Patriarch Filaret will make a full recovery, if only so he can continue to show the world what a repugnant thing the Eastern Orthodox Christian Church with its bigoted clergy has become.
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