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Document Details :

Title: Civil Same Sex Unions
Subtitle: A Threat To Marriage
Author(s): VINGT-TROIS, A. , KEIL, S. , NETHÖFEL, W. , ASPEL, M. , MOORE, G.
Journal: Marriage, Families & Spirituality
Volume: 7    Issue: 1   Date: 2001   
Pages: 90-97
DOI: 10.2143/INT.7.1.2004535

Abstract :
In 1994 the European Parliament passed a resolution urging its member states to implement legislation providing “homosexuals and lesbians” access to “marriage or an equivalent legal framework”. While some countries have progressed toward a same-sex partnership legislation, others are experiencing at present a vehement discussion on its pros and cons. In a recent article in this review, protestant systematic theologian Walter Dietz has suggested that the present debate offers an excellent opportunity for Christians, Catholics and Protestants alike, to rethink the essence of Christian marriage (see INTAMS review6/2 [2000], 232-245). Regarding heterosexuality as essential to Christian marriage, Dietz’s resistance to legalize homosexual unions will certainly be backed by prominent Catholic theologians. Yet the issue is contentious, even among Christians, and there are voices which refuse to believe that legally sanctioned same-sex unions will necessarily lead to undermine the significance of heterosexual marriage.
Pursuing the discussion in this number of INTAMS review, we intend to rise to the challenge and stimulate in particular new reflection on the core meaning of marriage in its contemporary social and cultural context. Contributors to this debate are: Mgr. André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Tours and President of the French Bishops’ Conference Committee on the Family, and Fr. Gareth Moore, a member of the Dominican Order who teaches at the Couvent de l’Epiphaniein Rixensart, Belgium. We also publish a statement issued by the Department of Social Ethics at the Protestant university of Marburg, Germany, co-authored by Prof. Siegfried Keil, Prof. Wolfgang Nethöfel and Dr. Michael Haspel.

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