Miscoiu, S., Gherghina, S.  and Samsudean, D. (2022) Religion, homosexuality, and the EU: grasping the beliefs of Romanian orthodox priests. Sexuality, Gender and Policy, 5(2), pp. 108-121.

The European Union and the Church often have contrasting positions toward the rights, freedoms, and status of sexual minorities. Earlier research illustrates that the Church opposes the EU as a promoter of homosexuality and brings a critique based on national identity. In spite of these debates, we know very little about how the priests perceive the relationship between homosexuality and the EU. The priests’ beliefs and opinions can provide insights into what is beyond the official Church statements. This article seeks to address that gap in the literature and analyzes the ways in which the Romanian Orthodox priests link the EU and the topic of homosexuality. Our qualitative study uses inductive thematic analysis and draws on 18 semi-structured interviews conducted with priests in December 2020–February 2021. The findings indicate the existence of three main points of criticism against what the respondents perceive as an increasing pressure by the EU to adopt a favorable treatment of homosexuals.