Cyprus' top lawyer: Police to probe bishop's remarks on gays | AP News
# Cyprus’ top lawyer: Police to probe bishop’s remarks on gays
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus’ attorney general said Thursday he instructed police to launch an investigation into whether an Orthodox Christian bishop has committed a criminal offense over his remarks on homosexuals.
Police spokesman Christos Andreou said the force’s chief has ordered investigators to start the probe immediately.
Morphou Bishop Neophytos stirred up controversy after saying during a June lecture that homosexuality could be transferred to unborn children if a pregnant woman has anal sex, a claim with no scientific basis.
The bishop told his audience that homosexuals could be “good Christians” as long as they subdued their desires through spiritual guidance. But his explanation of how homosexuality could be “transferred” to the unborn — “usually through the parents” — triggered a groundswell of condemnation from political parties and
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Neophytos claims he was expressing ‘the position of the church and the saints’.Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
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