A Greek Orthodox priest whose home-recorded album of drone metal and religious dubstep has made him a cult figure in experimental music circles has issued a statement in which he has clarified his stance on homosexuality and the Greek radical right.
“As can be seen from my musical expression, I am in favour of unity, love, empathy and help for every needy, wronged and suffering person in life,” Father Dionysios Tabakis said in a public statement shared with the Guardian. “Whoever they are, whatever they believe, whether they are a saint or a sinner.”
The musician-priest’s political views have come under scrutiny over two blogposts he wrote in ۲۰۲۴, around the time that Greece became the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage.
The posts on the Orthodox Christian WordPress blog The Doors The Doors referred to gay people as “Sodomites”, gay marriage as a σοδομικὸ τερατούργημα (“sodomitic monstrosity”) and the same-sex marriage bill as “blasphemous”.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Tabakis said: “My view on homosexuality is the same as that of the Orthodox church for ۲,۰۰۰ years, nothing more, nothing less.
“We owe homosexual people love and acceptance because many have at times experienced great rejection from their environment, especially from their families. Over the years, homosexual people have also come to me for confession, and I have always received them with acceptance and love.”
In his statement, Tabakis still appears to refer to homosexuality as a sin: “I also always respect the freedom of my fellow man. After all, with freedom we sin, and with freedom we repent. It is better to sin with freedom than to be virtuous with oppression.”
The Orthodox priest’s debut album Paradise Metal earned a critics’ score of ۷.۶ from the experimental music bible Pitchfork, and Tabakis was profiled in international media including the Guardian and the New York Times.
In a separate controversy, a ۲۰۱۳ YouTube video that recently resurfaced on Greek social media showed Tabakis performing a sanctification at the opening of an office building for Golden Dawn, the neo-Nazi party that held seats in Greece’s parliament between ۲۰۱۵ and ۲۰۱۹.
The group was criminalised in ۲۰۲۰, and its leadership handed prison sentences for murder, assault and weapons possession.
In his statement, Tabakis said he performed the consecration in an official duty and at the request of his superior authority, and that he also attended other consecration ceremonies connected with other political and municipal groups.
Heat Crimes, the Greek record label that issued Tabakis’s debut album, told Pitchfork: “In Greek Orthodox practice, priests routinely perform agiasmos, blessing ceremonies for homes, shops, businesses, schools, public institutions, military facilities and other premises. A politician or political organisation inviting a local priest to bless new premises therefore does not, by itself, establish that either the priest or the church endorses that organisation. The important distinction is between performing a religious blessing and giving a political endorsement.”
In his statement, Tabakis said he was against nationalism “because it has only brought blood and wars to humanity”.
“The only ones who have interests in nationalism and borders are the weapons factories that spread death. Besides, my grandparents from Crete fought Hitler and nazism, so I follow their spirit. In fact, one reason I have removed the frets from my guitar is my mental need not to be confined to borders.”
