The Pope and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church have released a joint statement condemning same-sex marriage.

The statement, consisting of 30 points, holds wide-reaching significance for Catholics and followers of the Orthodox Church.

The main message of the statement seems to be the reconciliation of the Orthodox and Catholic churches.

However, as well as a coming together of the two denominations, the statement condemns war in the middle east and the persecution of Christians.

Going on, the statement says Pope Francis and Kirill are “concerned” about Christians being “confronted by restrictions to religious freedom”.

Secular societies are next on the list, saying that Christians face “outright discrimination”, and that they are faced by an “often very aggressive secularist society”.

The pair urge Europe to “remain faithful to its Christian roots”, and calls on European Christians to be more outspoken about their faith.

In a similar vein to many statements made by the churches, the “family” was high on the agenda.

One point calls family the “natural center of human life and society”, but they say they are “concerned about the crisis in the family in many countries”.

They then say that “the family is based on marriage, an act of freely given and faithful love between a man and a woman.”

The Pope and the Patriarch are apparently worried that the “biblical tradition, of paternity and maternity as the distinct vocation of man and woman in marriage is being banished from the public conscience.”

Patriarch Kirill in 2013 condemned the advance of marriage equality in the West, calling it a symptom of the apocalypse.

The Russian Orthodox Church has been a key supporter of Russia’s anti-gay law, and Patriarch Kirill maintained the Church’s view that homosexuality is a sin – although he has cautioned against punishing people for their sexuality.

In 2009 he told an interviewer: “We respect the person’s free choice, including in sex relations.”

Pope Francis last month attacked same-sex marriage and civil unions, ahead of a debate in the Italian Senate at introducing civil unions for same-sex couples.

He said: “There can be no confusion between the family God wants and any other type of union.

“The family, founded on indissoluble matrimony that unites and allows procreation, is part of God’s dream and that of his Church for the salvation of humanity,” he added.

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