Archbishop Ieronymos ordered on Tuesday an internal inquiry against the Archimandrite of the Ilioupolis in Athens, Seraphim Dimitriou, after the latter targeted an MP and his family for voting in favor of the same-sex marriage.
Father Seraphim posted on social media pictures of the wife and new-born baby of MP Pavlos Christidis, socialist PASOK/KINAL, and thus from the room of a maternity clinic and lashed out at the lawmaker and his family, writing “Shame on you!”. He even claimed that he asked the MP to leave an event because he had voted for the bill.
Christidis was a special rapporteur for “marriage equality” during the debate in the Parliament.
In a post on social media, MP Christidis spoke of “unprecedented targeting” of his family an “unimaginable attack.”
Ως άνθρωπος, πρώτα και πάνω από όλα, έχω μάθει στη ζωή μου, να σέβομαι κάθε άποψη, όσο αντίθετη και αν είναι με αυτά που εγώ υποστηρίζω και για τα οποία πάντα μάχομαι και πολιτεύτομαι είτε εντός, είτε εκτός Κοινοβουλίου.
Η πρωτοφανής, όμως, στοχοποίηση της οικογένειας μου,…
— Παύλος Χρηστίδης (@christidisp) February 26, 2024
Reiterating that he is somebody respecting other people’s views even if he doesn’t agree with them, the MP added that “the unprecedented targeting of my family, accompanied by a photo from the maternity hospital, is a limit that far exceeds the tolerable limits of political confrontation.”
He added, he wished “to be the only victim – representative of Parliament against such intolerant attitudes.”
It was just last week, when another high-ranking clergy announced to exclude from the Holy Communion MPs who voted for the bill.
In a statement, PASOK said its MP Pavlos Christidis was accosted with “a hateful rant” by Seraphim because he voted for the bill and that he even went as far as “targeting his family with photos on social media.”
Several lawmakers expressed their solidarity with Christidis and condemned the attack.
