SkopjeDiem Macedonia in English
The protest against the Draft-law on Legal Recognition of Gender and the Draft-law on Gender Equality, organised and headed by the Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), started on Thursday around 06:00 pm, with a collective prayer of the attendants and reding of segments of the Bible. Archbishop of MOC Stephen addressed the protesters, levelling criticism against, as he qualified them, the desires and intentions of certain organisations. “They gained power in our society so much, that they now enter and become part of the institutions of the state, and dare to write laws for us, laws the intention of which is to secularise the church and to force it to use a language that is foreign to the word and the spirit of the apostles and the evangelists. We gathered here today to say yes to life and to protect the sanctity of the fundamental social unit, the family, and to defend our children from the disgusting and unacceptable ideologies. The existence of the church is not in opposition to the people, but in opposition to the evil, sins and deaths, which unfortunately we see today how the world sinks in. Like Christ once said: If you were from this world, then the world would’ve loved what belonged to it, but because I chose you from the world, the world hates you now,” Stephen said. He also addressed criticism at the Istanbul Convention, claiming that its goal is the introduction of concepts that in fact endanger the position of women in society. Bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in Skopje Kiro Stojanov also attended the protest, while the Islamic Religious Community only voiced support for the protest and did not send its representative to it. VMRO-DPMNE leader Hristijan Mickoski also voiced support to the protest of MOC during a live interview for Kanal 5, saying that if it was not for the interview, he would’ve attended the protest himself.
