ENCYCLICAL
OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS
OF THE MAJOR ARCHBISHOPRIC OF KYIV-HALYCH
OF THE
UKRAINIAN GREEK CATHOLIC CHURCH
CONCERNING THE DANGER OF GENDER IDEOLOGY
Dearly Beloved in Christ!
Introduction
1. In the
twentieth century, the people of Ukraine suffered from a godless Soviet regime
that attempted to forcefully tear people from the roots of faith and impose an
atheistic worldview. Presented as the only “scientific” one, this worldview
denied human persons’ freedom of conscience and deprived them of the right to
freely profess their religious beliefs. At the beginning of the twenty-first
century, the world stands before similar challenges, which, however, are not
accompanied by open and bloody persecution, but rather are served by hidden
ideological means of destroying Christian faith and morality, as well as
universal human values. Some of these challenges relate to areas of human
sexuality and family life, and are not new to Ukraine; rather, they are
accented or presented in public consciousness in a new manner. Others are
entirely new and even far removed from the Ukrainian context, but certain
forces are attempting to artificially impose them upon us.
2. In
particular, gender theories are a significant threat today, attempting to
destroy the perception of human sexuality as a gift from God that is naturally
linked to the biological differences between man and woman, as well as
introducing a dangerous disorder to human relationships and attacking the
foundations of interpersonal communication. The concepts of human dignity and
freedom are undergoing extensive manipulation and the true meaning of these
essential moral categories is being displaced and distorted. All these efforts
are being implemented very actively, systematically, and thoughtfully, using
political expediency and populist slogans. However, their true nature and
purpose remain hidden from the public. As a result, Ukrainian society—sensitive
to asserting its dignity and freedom—is in danger of thoughtlessly accepting as
truth questionable atheistic theories founded in attempts to affirm human
dignity, to achieve equality among people, to defend the human right to
freedom, and so on.
3. Under
these circumstances, the Church-Mother seeks by means of this Encyclical to
warn the faithful and all people of good will of the threats that are hidden
behind gender ideology and similar worldview systems, and recall the
traditional biblical, Christian, and universal values upon which interpersonal
relationships and the way of organizing social life are based.
I. Human
Dignity in God’s Plan
4. The whole
history of salvation attests to the incredible love of God for the human
person. From the very first pages of Holy Scripture we learn about the
extraordinary greatness of the human person. While everything else arose from
only one word of God, Church tradition speaks of a Divine “meeting” that
preceded the creation of the human person: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness’” (Gen. 1:26). Particular attention should be
given to the phrase “in our image, after our likeness.” This is the basis of
the concept of human dignity, which in the New Testament is emphasized in the
Incarnation of the Son of God in human nature. The image of God is integral to
the natural dignity and spiritual beauty of every human person, from the moment
of conception until natural death. This is a common feature of all people that
reflects their equal and infinite value.
5. The image
of God is the foundation of not only personal uniqueness, but also the human
community: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness’…So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:26–27). Therefore, the “communion
of the persons of the Trinity is the prototype of the human community.”[1]
Pope Francis, commenting on this verse of Holy Scripture, says that “marriage
is the most beautiful creation of God” because “man and woman, who become one
flesh, are the image of God.”[2]
“Man is a person, man and woman equally so, since both were created in the
image and likeness of the personal God. Each of the two sexes is an image of
the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different way.”[3]
The catechism Christ – Our Pascha,
interpreting the biblical story of the creation of man and woman, says: “The
image of the Most Holy Trinity in human community is the natural unity of human
community that exists within the communion of the love between Adam and Eve.
Complementing one another physically, psychologically, and spiritually, Adam
and Eve are different, but at the same time, equal persons. In the wonderful
image of Eve’s creation from the ‘rib of Adam’ (cf. Gen. 2:21), Holy Scripture
describes the equality and difference between the man and the woman, who form
the first community. Adam professes Eve to be his own: ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called Woman” (Gen. 2:23). Adam embraces Eve as person, his
equal and simultaneously his companion for life (cf. Gen. 2:24).”[4]
The Church teaches that “created in the image of the one God and equally
endowed with rational souls, all men have the same nature and the same origin.
Redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, all are called to participate in the same
divine beatitude: all therefore enjoy an equal dignity.”[5]
6.
Sexuality, as a gift to be man or woman (cf. Gen. 1:27) given by God during
creation, integrally covers all the natural dimensions of existence of the
human person: body, soul, and spirit. A person is called to accept God’s plan
for themselves as expressed in their sex—because sex does not depend on human
choice—and to embody it in their lives. Sexuality can only be comprehended in
light of the Christian understanding of love as a vocation to the communion of
persons and the self-giving of one person to another. “In marital life, a man
and a woman open themselves to God through mutual love, which becomes the
foundation of their indissoluble union, fidelity, and fruitfulness. In the
virginal state of consecrated life, sexuality is transfigured in the Holy
Spirit in order to serve God and one’s neighbour in love for the sake of the
heavenly kingdom (cf. Matt. 19:12). Any selfish exploitation of another person
as a means for obtaining sexual pleasure contradicts God’s gift of love,
deforms the essence of sexuality, and deeply wounds the person.”[6]
7. God
subjects the earth and all that fills it (cf. Gen. 1:26,28) to the human
person. This is why human beings are God's greatest creation, which has a
special vocation and mission in the world.[7]
The Psalmist describes the greatness and dignity of the human person: “For I
will look at the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and the stars
which you fixed. What is man that you remember him? Or the son of man that you
visit him? You have made him a little less than the angels; you have crowned
him with glory and honour, and set him over the works of your hands.
You have subjected all things
under his feet…” (cf. Ps. 8:4–9). And St. John of Damascus, a Father of the
Church, emphasizes that God created man as “a sort of second microcosm within
the great world, another angel…king over the things of earth, but subject to a
higher king, of the earth and of the heaven, temporal and eternal, belonging to
the realm of sight and to the realm of thought, midway between greatness and
lowliness, spirit and flesh…becomes deified by merely inclining himself towards
God; becoming deified, in the way of participating in the divine glory and not
in that of a change into the divine being.”[8]
8. In God’s
plan, the human person, created in the image of God, is appointed for eternal
communion with the Creator. As St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “the purpose of a
virtuous life is to become like God.”[9]
With the Lord’s grace, a person reaches the height of its capabilities in
likeness to God through “divinization” (theosis).[10]
The Apostle Paul describes the outlook and purpose of human growth: “…until we
all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to
mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph.
4:13). Every human person in its growth toward the fullness of God’s likeness
is an absolutely unique and inimitable individual. This inimitableness is
caused by the grace of the Holy Spirit, who endows each of us with special
personal gifts, talents, abilities, and disposition. Thus, the equality of all
people in their dignity is at the same time inextricably linked to the
uniqueness of each human person.
9. One of
the features inherent in God’s image in the human person is free will, by which
it can freely choose the good; however, it is also able to choose another way:
“The most profound dimension of human freedom consists in being able to freely
choose God and to be with him. This is the good. Yet with this same freedom, we
can also reject our relationship with God—and this is evil.”[11]
“The devil in Paradise lured Adam with a vain hope for divinization, proposing
that he consider the measure of goodness resides not in God but within
himself…The deceit of the Evil One is based on the premise that God is
deceiving humankind with his commandment, thereby undercutting their freedom…”[12]
From the biblical account of the fall of the progenitors, we conclude that a
sinful choice has serious consequences for the person—the loss of paradise as a
state of blessed communion and life with God and other creatures (cf. Gen.
3:4–14). The sin of the progenitors also obscured the truth about the human
person as the image of God. Since then, human nature has also been marred by
sin. The brokenness caused by sin continues in history, appearing in a variety
of abuses in the area of sexuality.
10. But God
so loved man that he did not abandon him, he did not take away from him his
high calling even after the fall, but is constantly looking for him: “Adam,
where are you?” (cf. Gen.3:9). Because of the fall, man’s movement toward God
ceases, but God does not cease his movement toward man. Evidence of this is the
history of salvation, as reflected in the Old Testament. Direct restoration of
this movement was accomplished in the New Testament through Christ, who “gave
himself as an exchange to death, by which we had been held captive, sold under
sin. And when He had descended through the Cross into Hades, so that He might
fill all things with Himself, He loosed the pangs of death. And rising on the
third day and making a way for all flesh to the resurrection of the dead….”[13]
11. Thus,
the dignity and worth of man lies in the truth of his creation “in the image
and likeness of God,” in its superiority over all creation and comprehension of
the divine vocation to holiness. God’s likeness, in which man was created,
points to the dynamism of his vocation. The dignity of man requires that he act
not under the influence of instinctive impulses or external coercion, but under
a conscious and free choice and mature personal convictions. This is reached
when one is freed from the bondage of passions and aims for his goal, freely
choosing good and using appropriate means for it.[14]
II. The
Concept of Gender
12. Human
sexuality is, as already mentioned, a natural gift of God and precisely through
it we discover the joy of being co-creators. However, the very vulnerable area
of sexuality and marriage today belongs to the most
manipulated aspects of human existence. The constant temptation to violate God’s statutes in this area is one of the consequences of
the fall of our progenitors (cf. Gen. 3). Man abuses the possibility of a free
choice when trying to “become free” of traditional values in
the area of sexuality and married life, falsely treating them as
some archaisms and obstacles to equality, dignity, and freedom. Some believe
that obstacle to be biological sex, perceiving difference of sexes as the cause
of societal degradation and violation of rights, the precondition for sexual
violence in the family and outside it (by men against women). Instead, it
should be remembered that the cause of these and other such societal problems
is not sexuality itself, but its distorted perception and understanding.
13. Over the
course of millennia, humankind has recognized the existence of two sexes based
on biological criteria—male and female. Recently, worldviews that are contrary
to the Christian faith, objective scientific reality, and natural law have
become widespread and influential, namely theories of gender. Their basis is
the distinction between biological sex, given to the person from conception,
and gender, a certain personal choice of sexual behaviour. Consequently, gender
identity is no longer considered a gift from God, but rather declared a matter
of individual choice for each person. The person ”no longer understands its
deep calling to eternal love, but considers it as a temporary diversion.”[15]
While sexual identity is based on a biological, psycho-physical reality, gender
identity abandons binary gender (male or female) in favour of a broad and free
range of self-identification. Thus, sex is a natural phenomenon, whereas gender
is the reality of psychological self-understanding often caused by social influence.
Gender ideology insists that a person is free to choose and implement their
sexual identity regardless of their biological sex. Such separation and
opposition of sex and gender is dangerous, because it distorts the traditional
foundations of society based on divine and natural law.
14. The
concept of gender is constantly changing and transforming. If initially it was
“constructed” in opposition to biological sex, indicating that a person could
choose a gender (social) role of man or woman regardless of being
physiologically male or female, it is now claimed that not only does biological
sex not influence the choice of social role, but the public role of man or
woman is not necessary. Because gender is entirely separated from binary
biological sex, it can be determined by any differences in behaviour,
biological characteristics, psychological characteristics, sexual drive or
desire, and so on. The human person is understood as a kind of “incorporeal
freedom” that is its own creator and constructs its own identity, including its
physicality in sexual terms, as a tool for getting the most pleasure with the
least responsibility.
15. This
“theory” implies that everyone can have a gender based on a unique combination
of characteristics, freely defined and given by that person itself. Gender can
supposedly be chosen. Therefore, people are likely to choose one that matches
their biological sex. But one can also choose a different one. The person is
given the offer not to limit their
biological sex to man or woman, or even the social role of man or woman, but
instead to choose their gender and
gender role from the plurality of possibilities (various gender ideologues
identify from a few to dozens of such roles, for example, heterosexual,
homosexual, transsexual, androgynous, bigender, agender, etc.). Thus it is not
being someone that determines, but acting in the role of someone. In addition,
gender is declared not as a static reality but a dynamic one that can be
repeatedly changed throughout the course of one’s life. The consequence of such
erroneous thinking is the conclusion that supposedly one can freely choose the
ways of one’s own sexual life.
16. Of
particular concern is the fact that gender ideologies are not just virtual
worldview systems—they are aggressively imposed on public opinion, gradually
introduced in legislation, and made ever more forcefully visible in different
spheres of human life, especially in education and upbringing. “If these ideas
circulated only in theory, they would not go beyond the right to private
opinion and the possible existence of different philosophical views. The danger
lies in the fact that such anti-human theories are trying to become the ruling
ideology and be put into practice, sometimes by means of international pressures
on the global community.”[16]
Pope Francis states that “today a world war is being wagged to destroy
marriage,” referring to the theory of gender as “destructive ideological
colonization.”[17] That
which was until recently considered sexual deviation is today proclaimed by
gender theorists as not only normal, but as a rule of life to be followed under
pain of ridicule, censure, and even punishment.
17.
Therefore, at its present stage of development, gender theory begins to acquire
the characteristics of totalitarian ideology and is similar to those utopian
ideologies that in the twentieth century not only promised to create paradise
on earth, supposedly building true equality between people, but also tried to
forcibly introduce their own way of thinking, eradicating any alternative point
of view. The tragic history of the twentieth century has shown us what such
ideologies that promise “happiness to all humanity” turn into.
III.
Destructive Outcomes of Gender Ideology
18. Gender
theories envision the complete denial of human nature and natural moral law,
with the result that the concept of human identity is steadily destroyed. Pope
Benedict XVI confirms: “What is often expressed and understood by the term
‘gender’ ultimately ends up being man’s attempt at self-emancipation from
creation and the Creator. Man wants to be his own master, and alone—always and
exclusively—to determine everything that concerns him. Yet in this way he lives
in opposition to the truth, in opposition to the Creator Spirit.”[18]
Supporting gender theory, a person rejects the idea that his or her gender is
granted by God and doubts the fact that God created people as male and female
(cf. Gen. 1:27).
19. Gender
theory denies the existence of human beings created as men and women, claiming
that only the person has the ability of self-creation (self-transformation)
into man, woman, or some other being. Therefore, it is not God, but the person
who is proclaimed creator of man, woman, or some other being. Officially
declaring the desire for equality, gender ideological systems in reality strive
for uniformity. We should remember that equality should not be confused with
uniformity. It is diversity that is the basis of equality, while uniformity is
the basis for smoothing and unifying unique and specific natural traits and
signs that are attractive to the sexes. Objecting to biological sex blurs the
notion of humanity, which is expressed in masculinity or femininity; rather,
sexuality gives the opportunity to build genuine social equality. One cannot simply
be a human being—a human being is always either man or woman.
20. Gender
ideology, which denies the existence of objective human nature, the
complementarity of man and woman, and the values of marriage, actually denies
the existence of the Creator and negates the truth of humans in his image. In
such ideologies, there is no place for God, and therefore there is no place for
the person in their uniqueness and dignity, because human uniqueness is
grounded in its connection with the Creator. The biblical doctrine of the
person, created by God, emphasizes the greatness and dignity of its origin and
calling—from God and eternal life with him in holiness (divinization), while,
according to gender theory, the person has a base origin and lowly
potential—from itself and for temporary life, with a goal of its own pleasure.
Therefore, one can say with conviction that gender theory is destructive and
anti-human.
21. In
addition to the fact that gender ideology clearly contradicts the teaching of
Holy Scripture and Christian anthropology, it also does not correspond to
objective scientific data, and is instead based on subjective hypotheses and
pseudoscientific assertions made by interested parties. Objective researchers
have concluded that gender ideologues ignore results of scientific research,
medicine, psychology, anthropology, and bioethics that show the difference
between men and women is based on the difference between the structure of the
brain, hormonal balance, psychological nature…
22. Gender
ideology denies the most obvious anthropological reality: people are born male
and female, and the natural complementarity of the gifts of the two sexes is an
extraordinary richness for all of humanity, which gives hope for progress.
Promoting vague and undefined ideas of “gender identity” creates a dangerous
psychological instability that leads to absurd conflicts between bodily and
psychological sexuality, which naturally stems from the physical.
23. Gender
theories destroy the concept of family as a community of husband and wife in
which children are born and brought up. Adherents of this theory believe that
the traditional family—which is based on divine and natural law, expresses the
dignity of the human person, and is the foundation of fundamental rights and
obligations[19]—is only
one possible form of family. And they
suggest calling unions of people with different mixes of genders, in which to
be a parent means simply to perform a certain role, equivalent to the
traditional family.
24. Gender
ideology promotes many forms of sexual identity and behavior that do not at all
correspond to human nature. That is why gender theories lead to promiscuity and
further demoralization of society. Such a situation leads to disappointment,
anger, and the self-destruction of the human race, because its natural
foundations and principles are undermined.
IV.
Proclaiming the Truth of Christ in the Context of an Expanding Gender Ideology
25.
Ukrainian society is generally not acquainted with gender theories and this
permits gender ideology to be quietly and insidiously imposed upon it. Indeed,
the promotion and dissemination of this ideology is carried out covertly on
various levels – in legislation, information, education, upbringing…. At the
same time, indisputable facts about the dangers of gender ideology for mental
and physical health, particularly among children and young people—to say
nothing of the undermining of the very fundamentals of human and family life
that come with such theories—are deliberately passed over in silence.
26. In such
circumstances, the Church issues a call to deeply and carefully assess the
challenges in the field of sexuality and married life, not succumbing to social
pressure in these important matters, and to defend human dignity and freedom.
We strive to call to mind the truth regarding every human person’s dignity,
regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, age, health, etc., that the Church of
Christ has constantly and consistently proclaimed for centuries. Christians are
called to bring to today’s world the truth about the dignity of the human being
created in the image and likeness of God, about the dignity of marriage as a
union of love between a man and a woman, and about the dignity of man and woman
as they complement each other. We must deepen our knowledge of Holy Scripture
and Tradition so that we can grow in faith and so that we know how to argue the
Christian position in a secular environment. A Christian cannot afford to live
a double life, but must consistently and persistently imitate Christ, embodying
in their daily life God’s teaching and God’s laws, which are the only source of
genuine human happiness, genuine dignity and freedom. As the Apostle Paul
writes: “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we preached among you…was not
Yes and No; but in him it is always Yes” (2 Cor. 1:19–20). We cannot rely on
God in some cases, and ignore His commandments and precepts in others. We are
called to witness to Christ in all the dimensions of our being. This applies to
the private realm, family life, professional activity, the public sphere,
political activism, and so on.
27. All
people of good will should work together to defend the dignity of each person,
to affirm their natural and God-given characteristics and freedoms, and also
for the full protection and development of the family community on the
foundation of God's revelation, which is the real guarantor of human society’s
development and worthy future. “Everyone, man and woman, should acknowledge and
accept his sexual identity. Physical,
moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented toward the
goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple
and of society depends in part on the way in which the complementarity, needs,
and mutual support between the sexes are lived out.”[20]
At the same time, it is necessary to show greater vigilance and responsibility
in order to prevent the spread of pernicious theories, which are the latest
forms of ideological enslavement and destruction of the person, the family, and
society as a whole.
28. It is
necessary to delve into the essence of every matter and to recognize the true
purpose of certain proposals or appeals, without letting oneself be deceived by
that which is presented under the banner of an illusory dignity and freedom, or
announced as “necessary steps” to implement a particular geopolitical course of
the state. We have to remember that “the state cannot fulfil its functions if
it violates the dignity of the individual and the moral principles of society.”[21]
A human being cannot betray their vocation and destroy human dignity for the
sake of dubious social or political projects, even if these projects are
presented as a sign of “progress” and “modernity.” The Catechism of the UGCC Christ — Our Pascha teaches that “the
criterion of the lawfulness of state power is its conformity to the Lord’s law.
When state authority loses its legitimacy through its lack of conformity to
God’s law, the people have a right to resist such a government and to oppose
it. The Christian is bound to follow divine law even in difficult
circumstances: ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority’ (Acts 5:29).”[22]
Conclusion
29. The Lord
calls people to salvation and the fullness of happiness, giving his Commandments
as a guide on our earthly journey. We call the UGCC faithful and all people of
good will to value and protect human dignity in the face of new ideological
challenges and threats. Each of us is called to this, no matter what our
position in society. For this reason:
• we call to mind that
“individuals should be endowed with this virtue [of chastity] according to
their state in life: for some it will mean virginity or celibacy consecrated to
God…. For others it will take the form determined by the moral law, according
to whether they are married or single,”[23]
and therefore should be properly and responsibly prepare for the choice of
their state of life, based on the solid foundation of faith, morality, and
divine and natural law;
• we encourage parents to lead
a good Christian life that will be an example for their children. Please take
care of the Christian education of future generations, not only by transmitting
the foundations of faith, but also through all manner of encouragement that
they live a life in Christ and by warning them against the dangers of the false
exercise of one’s free choice. Parents “are called to be gentle and wise
guides. It is they who must lead the child on its path of discovering God’s
gift of sexuality in himself or herself, revealing its nature and meaning in a
manner appropriate to the age, needs, and depth of the child’s inquiry”;[24]
• we appeal to workers in the
field of medicine, remembering that “the most important point of a physician’s
oath is to serve human life from the moment of conception and to defend its
health,”[25] to
promote the dissemination of a culture of life, defending in particular the
life of unborn children and the elderly or terminally ill;
• we ask everyone, especially
those working in the fields of information and education, to defend and
disseminate traditional moral values regarding sexuality
and the family, remembering that “nothing can justify recourse to disinformation for
manipulating public opinion through the media”;[26]
• we ask all who are responsible
for developing educational curricula to prepare them on the basis of natural
and divine law, respectful of the truth, the qualities of the heart, and the
moral and spiritual dignity of man,[27]
avoiding any propaganda against sexual purity, marital fidelity, and the true
identity of the human person;
• we call upon scientists to
remember that science and technology should recognize the basic criteria of
morality and be “at the service of the human person, of his inalienable rights,
of his true and integral good, in conformity with the plan and the will of
God,”[28]
and also encourage them to use available means to demonstrate the truth about
gender ideology and other destructive ideologies, and point to the importance
of adhering to traditional moral and ethical foundations;
• we remind pastors of their
sacred duty to care for the spiritual condition of the family—a community of
love and a “domestic church” (cf. Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:19; Col. 4:15; Phil. 1:2;
Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; 1 Tim. 2:8) that is “the primary cell of the Christian
community” and “a school of social solidarity”[29]
on which a healthy society is built. We also encourage them to accompany
families at all stages of their existence, from preparation for married life,
through support for young couples, diligent catechesis of families, and special
care of families who are experiencing difficulties or crises. In addition, we
ask pastors, while maintaining the teachings of the Church and observing a high
level of spiritual and psychological maturity, to pay attention to pastoral
work with people who have problems with the definition of their own sexual
identity;[30]
• we call upon all people of
good will, especially government officials and legislators, to be vigilant that
the legislation of Ukraine not give way to implementing uncertain and untested
concepts of human identity or family, or principles of gender education,
remembering that “the ruling authority has as its aim to serve the common good,
to preserve and protect the natural and true freedom of citizens, families, and
community organizations.”[31]
Legislation will only be firm and unshakable when it is based not on temporary
and dubious theories, but on the natural law affirmed by divine revelation.
30. We
invite all to pray that God help us all to live according to his commandments,
trusting in his Divine Providence and not succumbing to the temptations of
opposing his will. The Lord, having created human beings as “male and female,”
looked at them and said that it was very good (Gen. 1:27,31). May he embrace
each person and family in his loving and life-giving gaze, confirm us all in
his truth and love, and send down upon all his Fatherly blessing!
On
behalf of the Synod of Bishops
of
the Major Archbishopric of Kyiv-Halych of the UGCC
† SVIATOSLAV
Given in Kyiv
at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ,
on the day of the holy martyrs Plato and Roman,
1 December (O.S. 18 November) 2016 A.D.
[1] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 132.
[2] “Indifesa
delmatrimonio. L’appello durantela visita alla chiesa dell’Assunta a Tbilisi,”
L’Osservatore Romano (3-4 October
2016), 6.
[3] Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2334–2335. Cf. Familiaris consortio, § 22; Gaudium et spes, § 49; Mulieris dignitatem, § 6.
[4] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 133–134.
[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 1934.
[6] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 862–863
[7] Cf. Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 118–120.
[8] St. John Damascene, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, Book 2, Chapter 12 (“On
Man”); NPNF 9:31.
[9] St. Gregory of Nyssa, On the Beatitudes, 1; PG 44:1199C.
[10] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, §§ 124 and 127.
[11] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 137.
[12] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 145–146.
[13] Anaphora of St. Basil the Great.
[14] Gaudium et spes,
§ 17
[15] Joint
Declaration of the Catholic Bishops of Ukraine Concerning the New Ideological Captivity
of our Nation (25 November 2015).
[16] Joint
Declaration of the Catholic Bishops of Ukraine Concerning the New Ideological
Captivity of our Nation (25 November 2015).
[17] Cf. “Indifesa delmatrimonio.
L’appello durantela visita alla chiesa dell’Assunta a Tbilisi,” L’Osservatore Romano (3-4 October 2016), 6.
[18] Pope Benedict XVI, Christmas Greetings to the Roman Curia (22 December 2008), § 1: http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20081222_curia-romana.html.
[19] Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§ 1978–1979.
[20] Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2333.
[21] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 959.
[22] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 960
[23] Persona humana
(29 December 1975), § 11.
[24] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 865.
[25] Theological Department of the Patriarchal Curia of
the UGCC, Defending Conceived Life: Theological,
Moral-Ethical, and Pastoral Principles of the Moral Evaluation of the Problem
of Destroying Unborn Children (Kyiv, 2012), § 71.
[26] Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2498.
[27] Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2526.
[28] Catechism of the Catholic Church, § 2294.
[29] Catechism of the UGCC, Christ – Our Pascha, § 656.
[30] Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Letter to the
Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons (1
October 1986), § 6: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html
[31] Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky, How to Build a Native Home? (1942), § 7.
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