Romanian bishop resigns following gay sex tape scandal

A Romanian bishop has resigned from his position in the Romanian Orthodox Church after a video of him emerged engaging in sexual acts with a male student.

Corneliu Barladeanu, Bishop of Husi, maintains his innocence and said that he was standing down from his position “for the peace and good of the church.” He will remain a monk in the Church.

Barladeanu, 51, is alleged to have engaged in sex acts with a male student, who was 17-years-old at the time. The incident follows a similar scandal involving a priest and a male student. Church members are pressuring the church to act in a more decisive way, as the acts were homosexual. Around 85% of the country’s population belongs to the conservative Church, which has previously backed a constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between men and women only.

The Bishop resigned rather than face an investigation which would “prolong the situation of uncertainty of the bishopry of Husi”. The Church issued a statement surrounding the furore, blaming “an aggressive campaign of some media outlets aimed against the Romanian Orthodox Church, often with the complicity of some errant priests.

“All believers … should respect the discipline of the church and permanently renew their spiritual lives.”

Stelian Tanase, a critic of the church, said that its hierarchy should’ve punished those involved: “I think that the Synod should have come out with a strong decision to condemn such shameful practices for servants of the church…. Instead they preferred a cover up.”

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