Church in Belarus asks for marriage and family in constitution

Orthodox Christianity reports so based on a report by news agency Sputnik Belarus. "We propose to consider the voluntary union of a man and woman by birth as marriage," Metropolitan Benjamin of Minsk said.

The Metropolitan participated in a round table discussion – "Collaboration of the Church, State, and Public Organisations for the Establishment of Traditional Family Values" – on December 13. The National Press Center of Belarus hosted the meeting.

Concerning family values, the Metropolitan added: "We propose to include in the Constitution a provision that the state will ensure the priority of family education, as well as the right and responsibilities of parents to take care not only of the physical education and health of children but also their spiritual and moral development."

Unborn

Metropolitan Benjamin further spoke of the need to constitutionally protect human life against unlawful encroachments. He wants to create the best options for saving unborn life.

Unfortunately, "the cult of individual well-being," unmarried cohabitation, and gay unions are spreading in Belarusian society, "and especially among young people," the church leader lamented.

In addition, Metropolitan Benjamin outlined another problem: the decline in the population in the country. "Since the mid-90s of the last century, the population of Belarus has decreased by almost 1 million people, i.e., 9 per cent," he said.

In the summer of 2020, Russians overwhelmingly voted for several constitutional amendments, including the traditional definition of marriage. Several countries in Central and Eastern Europe had done the same earlier, like Poland and Hungary.