NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ attorney general says he has instructed police to launch an investigation into whether an Orthodox Christian bishop has committed a criminal offense over his remarks on homosexuals.
Costas Clerides said he instructed the chief of police on Thursday.
The bishop said in a June lecture citing the views of an Orthodox Christian saint that homosexuality could be transferred to unborn children if a pregnant woman has anal sex, a claim with no scientific basis.
The Cyprus government had earlier criticized Morphou Bishop Neophytos for his “insulting” and “injurious” remarks and called for their retraction. The country’s human rights commissioner considers the remarks discriminatory.
One of the bishop’s church peers, Kyrenia Bishop Chrysostomos, said in a statement that clerics shouldn’t “meddle in couples’ bedrooms.”
