The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) does not consider rape pregnancy to be a cause of abortion. This opinion was expressed by the chairman of the department for external church relations of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk (Alfeev), on the air of the Russia-24 television channel.
“The church’s view is that even if a girl becomes pregnant as a result of rape, it is not a cause for abortion,” he said.
The Metropolitan added that the ROC has experience in working with raped girls who have decided not to terminate their pregnancies and subsequently the child has brought them happiness. “From the point of view of the church, every human life has an absolute value, regardless of the circumstances in which the conception took place,” he said.
“The unborn baby is still a baby, it is a human being, it is a living being. Every such human being has the right to be born. The church has consistently opposed abortion,” Hilarion said.
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