Russian church says gay marriage not recognized

NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia — Officials in the Russian Orthodox Church say an illicit wedding ceremony for two men is blasphemous and will not be recognized in the eyes of the state or the church.

The New York Times reported that two men, Mikhail Morozov and Denis Gogolev, were married by an Orthodox priest recently in the town of Nizhny Novgorod. Photos show the couple standing before the priest with traditional Orthodox wedding crowns on their heads.

The priest is now in seclusion and claims he was bribed by the couple to perform the ceremony. “How shameful,” he said before the ceremony, according to Gogolev.

Viktor Malukhin, a spokesman for the Moscow Patriarchate, said it was the first time a gay couple had tried to marry in the Orthodox Church in Russia.

“Under no circumstances can this be considered a church marriage,” he told the Times. “The church still views a marriage blessed by God to be a union between a man and a woman.”