Education
Vanags studied at Liepaja 5th High School (1965–1976), the Latvian State University Chemistry Department (1976–1982), and the Lutheran Theological Seminar (1984–1989).
Vanags studied at Liepaja 5th High School (1965–1976), the Latvian State University Chemistry Department (1976–1982), and the Lutheran Theological Seminar (1984–1989).
Vanags is seen as a conservative on theological or moral issues and opposes women"s ordination. He also opposes abortion, euthanasia and encourages homosexual people to be chaste. Vanags was ordained as a pastor in 1985.
Archibishop Vanags has been criticised for his perceived homophobia, particularly when he deposed (defrocked) 36-year-old pastor Maris Sants from Holy Orders.
Through a statement by Mara Grigola, secretary to Vanags, he accused Sants of expressing in public "information that is against Lutheran doctrine". Sants told AFP that his dismissal came without warning, following an interview he gave with Radio Free Europe Radio Station Liberty in which he discussed his own homosexuality.
"lieutenant"s the practice in our church to dismiss people and not consult them. The church is not only conservative, but going backwards" said Sants, who added that he had been criticised by church officials for ministering to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome sufferers.
Vanags recently contributed an essay to an anti-homosexuality book which is being investigated by state security police following complaints that it breaches defamation laws.
"Now homosexuals are recognized as a minority so in principle after them pedophiles may also be recognized as a minority", Vanags was recently quoted as saying in the daily Rigas Balss.
Sants was known for ministering to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome patients, but Archbishop Vanags deposed the priest “due to his promotion of a tolerant attitude to homosexuality".