Orthodox Church accuses UN Rapporteur of 'overt hatred'

The statements by the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion Heiner Bielefeldt about the rights of sexual minorities not being respected and about the Orthodox Church having an overly dominant position are “unfounded”, according to the Metropolitan Church of Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports “The statements of the UN representative are based on unverified facts, on rumors and calumnies disseminated by certain media outlets. The fact that he insisted on not giving any positive credit to the Christian Orthodox Church reveals his discriminatory attitude and his overt hatred”, the Church said in a press statement. It went on to add that “a person who is a stranger to the Church has no right to tell the Church and the people what's right and what's wrong”. “The so-called recommendations to exclude legal provisions on the recognition by the state of the importance and primordial role of the Orthodox religion may be described as brazen and impertinent”, the Church said in its statement. Earlier this week, UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion Heiner Bielefeldt stated at a post-visit press conference that he was shocked by “the overly predominant position of the Orthodox Church which enjoys a privileged status at variance with the constitutional provision of a secular state”.