Metropolitan Veniamin: the trend to avoid official marriage erodes the concept of family

The trend to not register marriages that is growing among young people is erosive to the concept of marriage and detrimental to the ages old spiritual values – as noted by Veniamin, Metropolitan of Minsk and Zaslavl, Patriarchal Exarch of All Belarus, today, October 15th , at the plenary meeting called An Important Conversation: Happy Families Mean a Strong Nation in Polotsk

The Metropolitan argued that the way parent-child relationships develop within the family, and the degree to which families focus on preserving traditional values define the nation’s future,

“If approached correctly, the parental labour is a service. It’s a service to not only the daily care, but to the spiritual well-being of the family and the society as a whole. It’s vital to uphold trust between parents and children, find activities and events that would bring them closer together. Spending more time with their parents makes children less susceptible to destructive influences.”


At the same time, the Patriarchal Exarch noted the growing trend among young people to not register their marriages officially,

“This trend is erosive to the concept of marriage and detrimental to the spiritual values built through the ages by us, along with other European countries, and the entire world. A marriage not registered with either the government, or the Church is not a real marriage. The universal nature of marriage should become the only acceptable social norm, alongside the ‘once and for life’ principle.”