Patriarch Kirill, the head of the
Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin,
has compared same-sex marriage to Nazi laws.
Kirill said Monday that laws legalizing
marriage for gay and lesbian couples were as immoral as those passed
by the Nazis in Germany.
According to Newsweek, Kirill
made his comments in Kyrgyzstan while promoting his new book Freedom
and Responsibility: In Search of Harmony.
“[W]hen laws are detached from
morality, they cease being laws people can accept,” Kirill said,
giving as an example laws passed in Nazi Germany. “So-called
homosexual marriages” threaten family values, he
added.
A large majority of Russians (70%)
belong to the Orthodox Church.
In 2016, Kirill
joined Pope Francis in denouncing marriage equality.