First panel session from the event “Seeking Harmony and Compassion: Pastoral Care and LGBTQ+ Orthodox Faithful,” held at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus October 13, 2023.
Panelists include Dr. Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Fr. Perry Hamalis, and Dr. Nina Glibetic. Opening introduction by Elena Paraskevas-Thadani.
As Orthodox Christians, we are called, first and foremost, to love all—for “God is love.” But the reality for many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Orthodox Christians today is that their relationship to the Church is defined not by love, but by apathy, exclusion, and condemnation. We must, as a faith, choose love and compassion—to “love thy neighbor”— instead. This requires no change of faith, but a fuller, more compassionate understanding of what our faith in loving God truly requires of us.
The Church is at a crossroads. We offer this symposium in love and faith, praying that the road we choose is the right one—the one that leads to God.
Public Orthodoxy is a publication of the Orthodox Christian Studies Center of Fordham University