THE CANONICAL, LEGAL AND LITURGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE REDEFINITION OF THE SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE IN THE OLD CATHOLIC CHURCHES

Both the Roman Catholic Church and the canonical Orthodox Churches, or Churches associated with the Union of Utrecht, include marriage in the seven sacraments. Nevertheless, there is no agreement between them regarding the minister of the sacrament, the possibility of a second marriage after divorce or clergy marriage. In recent years, tensions in individual ecclesial communities have also been exacerbated by canonical legalization of same-sex relationships. This issue concerns, in particular, the Churches whose bishops are part of the International Conference of Old Catholic Bishops. In the West European Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht there is full agreement that homosexual orientation is one of the variants of human nature. Old Catholics Theologians believe that the condemnation of homosexuality which we find in Scripture resulted from the state of knowledge at the time and related cultural connotations. They point out that modern science shows this phenomenon in a completely different perspective, based on the results of scientific research unknown to either the Biblical tradition or the Tradition of the early Church. The consequence of this was the opening of the debate on their nature and on the possibility of blessing same-sex relationships.