Norwegian bishop suggests priests stop officiating civil weddings

A Roman Catholic bishop in Norway thinks that the clery should stop conducting weddings as officers of the state. Instead, they should officiate only Catholic weddings of Catholic couples.

"It's clear we must distinguish our own church marriages from others," Oslo's bishop Bernt Eidsvig said in the interview with the Catholic News Service, as quoted by Christian Today.

On April 11, the Norwegian Lutheran Church decided to allow same sex marriage, with 88 of 115 delegates voting in favor of this type of union. Although Eidsvig said that they don't understand the decision and that they are still hoping that the Lutheran Church would reconsider, he said that it is not a reflection of the bigger picture.

"This is a matter of liturgy, so it doesn't necessarily reflect broader change in our society's moral values," he said. "But politicians may now get aggressive toward churches who resist these weddings, so the best option is for us to stop conducting marriages on the state's behalf."

The issues involving LGBT rights and same-sex marriages have been getting a lot of time in the spotlight. As gay marriage has already been legalized in many countries, some governments deem that religious liberty of the clery need to be protected. In the United States, for instance, some states have already been considering putting in place laws on pastor protection, in which churches and church employees can deny people a service if it goes go against their religious beliefs. This has, unsurprisingly, received criticism.

Eidsvig said that he still needs permission from the Vatican, but Christian Today's contributing editor Mark Woods seems to agree with the idea. The French model, which Woods deems is perhaps what the bishop is proposing, is having all marriages done in a civil ceremony, putting all marriages -- homosexual or heterosexual -- on equal footing. He also said that this would put in place proper bounderies between church and state. Couples who want a religious service can also do so, but the clergy can choose which ones to accept. This would allow the church to emphasize on the Christian character of the union.