Romanian Orthodox Church supports constitutional amendment to protect marriage
The influential Romanian Orthodox Church is strongly backing a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman. Last week, a bill was submitted to legislators for a referendum to amend the Romanian Constitution in a vote to be held on the same day as parliamentary elections. The church dramatically demonstrated both its influence and the overwhelming popular support for natural marriage by garnering the signatures of three million citizens for the amendment. Romanian Orthodox priests and bishops throughout the country helped spearhead the petition drive, proactively and publicly urging parishioners to sign. Romanian Patriarch Daniel said the faithful — who constitute more than 85 percent of the citizens — “ must support the Church’s effort to protect the natural, traditional and universal family, and resist some new family models that consider the natural woman-man union only one model among others”. But the measure is not without opp