Head of Syrian churches bans gay marriages, IVF

 

SYRIA – Head of  the  Apostolic-Catholic Assyrian Church, His Holiness Catholicos-Patriach Mar Awa III has issued a law prohibiting gay marriages and Invitro fertilisation, IVF. 

His statement prohibits the clergy from blessing gay marriages and  and couples from embracing IVF to have babies. 

IVF is one of several techniques available to help people with fertility problems have a baby. 

During IVF, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and fertilised with sperm in a laboratory. The fertilised egg, called an embryo, is then returned to the woman’s womb to grow and develop.

However, office of patriarch Mar Awa Royel III issued a statement declaring gay marriage as a “grave sin.” 

According to the statement, any ranking church official who “attempts to bless” a same-sex marriage will be “utterly stripped of any priestly rank”. 

The same statement also said the church “cannot condone” fertilization that occurs for those unable to conceive naturally. 

“Actions such as the production of embryos outside of the body” are condemned by the church, according to the statement.