Adelphopoiesis

The Christian martyrs Saint Sergius and Saint Bacchus, noted for their friendship in Christ, were cited in church adelphopoiesis ceremonies.

Adelphopoiesis or adelphopoiia (from the Greek ἀδελφοποίησις/ἀδελφοποιία, derived from ἀδελφός, adelphos, lit. 'brother', and ποιέω, poieō, lit. 'I make', literally 'brother-making') is a ceremony practiced historically in Eastern Christian tradition to unite together two people of the same sex (normally men) in a church-recognized relationship analogous to siblinghood.[note 1]

Such ceremonies can be found in the history of the Catholic Church until the 14th century[1] and in the Eastern Orthodox Church until the early 20th century.[2][3][4] Documented in Byzantine manuscripts from the ninth to the fifteenth centuries, prayers established participants as 'spiritual brothers' (pneumatikoi adelphoi) and contained references to sainted pairs, including most notably Saints Sergius and Bacchus as well as Saints Cosmas and Damian, who were famous for their friendship."[5] In England, some scholars believe an adelphopoiesis may have also taken place between William Neville and John Clanvowe.[6]

In the late twentieth century, the Christian tradition gained notoriety as the focus of controversy involving advocates and opponents of secular and religious legalization of same-sex relationships.[7]


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  1. ^ Ebner, Adalabert „Die klösterlichen Gebets-Verbrüderungen bis zum Ausgange des karolingischen Zeitalters. Eine kirchengeschichtliche Studie“ (1890).
  2. ^ Christopher Isherwood, Christopher and His Kind 1929-1939 (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976), 137.
  3. ^ Tih R Georgevitch., “Serbian Habits and Customs,” Folklore 28:1 (1917) 47
  4. ^ M. E. Durham, Some Tribal Origins, Laws and Customs of the Balkans (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1928) 174
  5. ^ Patrick Viscuso. ""Failed Attempt to Rewrite History" New Oxford Book Reviews December 1994". Archived from the original on 2013-09-28. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  6. ^ Aldrich, R.; Wotherspoon, G. (2005). Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History Vol.1: From Antiquity to the Mid-Twentieth Century. Taylor & Francis. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-134-72215-0. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  7. ^ Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe (1994), Villard Books, ISBN 0-679-43228-0