In his Easter epistle, Serbian Patriarch Irinej said that infanticide is the greatest crime of this century to which every normal person has to agree along with certain nuances. He added that it is terrible to think that half a million children get deprived of life each year. And, of course, he threatened parents with the words of the Lord: ‘Thou shalt not kill, because the one who kills will be guilty in front of a court’.
In case anyone is not familiar with his address, the patriarch is talking about abortion. Laymen find it interesting how priests of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) see abortion as a murder, but they themselves do not serve funeral service for deceased babies up to 40 days. If abortion is a sufficient reason to exclude someone from the Church, the SOC will lose a great part of believers and consequently the donations. If this is a mortal sin, the crowds of parents and gynecologists will end up in the hottest pits of hell.
Who gives the right to people who gave up their own right to family and offspring to judge the matters of other individuals, the women themselves or potential parents? If the Church is so concerned about its believers, it could start paying the tax, and if is trying to support the state, then it could open orphanages and take care of the abandoned and sick, the children deprived of love and single mothers…
Both extremes are dangerous, whether to deny women the right to choose or to see this risky surgery as a means of contraception. Civilized and responsible people perceive the termination of pregnancy as a personal choice, however they don’t take these decisions easily, but only when they don’t see any other solution.
For all we know, life arises from love and not from mistakes or crimes. Have church fathers ever wondered what kind of parent will become the ones who are forced to that role and how will the unwanted children end up in their lives?
Abortion used to be banned in the past, but pregnancies were terminated even in those times – in unsanitary conditions, by means of old sticks, knitting needles and endangering the health, and ultimately a woman’s life. Today, when necessary, pregnancies are terminated in gynecological clinics with much lover risk to women’s health.
True, life would be easier if we never had to think about abortion. And this is possible to achieve by educating young people and by using protection, but I would bet that this prevention is also perceived by the Church as a sin and condom as devil’s device.
Instead of preventing us from taking care of ourselves and our health and family, the Church should better clean up its ranks a little bit. The monks are also human, except when their judge other people. And their ranks also embrace some greedy people, manipulators, trafficking or sex offenders, pedophiles… I wonder what Bishop Pahomije has to reply to all this since he was spared from the verdict for sexual abuse of boys by team efforts of the state and the Church? Although we already know what SOC thinks about Pahomije since it awarded him with “White Angel” medal.