Till recently marriages between persons of 2 different religions were few and far between in the Indian context. A large majority of marriages in India were arranged ones , where the key decision makers were parents and other close relatives . The boy and girl got precisely 5 minutes of their meeting in the presence of close relatives to say yes or no to a relationship that is supposed to last a lifetime . Still the relationships that came into existence in so unsophisticated manner did really last their full term - that is till death parted them. Not that love marriages did not exist then, of course they did , but those were a microscopic minority - maybe single digit percentage . Even among such love marriages , the partners seldom were from different religions .
Inter marriages -that was the term used to describe marriages between persons of two religious faiths-were in existence for quiet a long time , but they were rather rare . The problem got resolved by one of the partners accepting the religion of the other-mostly the bride accepting the groom's religion .Although sanathana dharma (Hindu Religion) do not, envisage conversion from other faiths there are instances of persons born in families following other religions being formally accepted into sanathana dharma by Arya Samaj and similar organizations , mostly as one starts following the rituals , the Hindu society started accepting them as defacto Hindus.
The pace of inter marriages have accelerated in the past couple of decades . A number of lifestyle changes made that phenomenon quite common . Larger number of females going in for higher education and subsequently and consequently taking up employment , the environment of places of work where young persons of either sex work in close proximity, lesser social taboo for male - female inter action , have created an environment conducive to young boys and girls find their life partners based on compatibility- as they perceive it .Religious considerations hardly matters in such decisions since their order of priorities have a different order than what is conventionally accepted by elders .
Till a few years back, when a marriage between a Christian and Non Christian took place , the non Christian underwent the process of baptism and then a Sacrament of Matrimony too . In certain cases a ceremony as per the non-Christian partners faith also was conducted . By and large these were to satisfy parents of the bride and the groom . So it was just undergoing the rituals without actually having any in depth involvement . Present trend is that either of the partners do not change their religion even for the sake of the ceremony , but conduct a civil marriage and both continue with their respective faiths . In my view this is a more honest act than undergoing religious rigmaroles without actually meaning it.
The important issue here is what should be the manner in which the Church deal with the issue. As per the present Canon , such marriages are null and void and the Christian who gets into such a marriage can be excommunicated from the Church . However , the situation at the early Centuries were not so . There were families where husband and wife followed different faiths . St. Paul had approved such a situation(Ref :1Corinthians7:14 ).But as the Church grew the present Canons took shape . During the time of St Paul since the Church consisted of converts only , there could be instances when only some members of the family became Christians and others remained with their old faith . But with the growth of the Church and a few generations later , the present system has come into existence . I have not come across any canonical provision which prohibits marital ties with non Christians . But marriage being a sacrament and sacraments cannot be accepted by non Christians , a sacramental fulfillment of a matrimony cannot take place unless both the bride And the groom are Christians.
The issue that has cropped up can be summarized as follows:
1. A boy and girl gets into a relationship that has no option but marriage , one of them is a Christian and the other non Christian
2.Both wants to continue their respective faiths
3.What are the options before the Church and the faithful?
First and easiest option will be to excommunicate the errant bride or groom as the case maybe
Other is to ignore the development
There seems to have no other option available within the framework of an Orthodox Church .
Catholic and Protestant Churches have found a via media called "blessing of the marriage". Broadly speaking this is a ceremony where the sacrament of Holy Matrimony is not administered ,but recognizing the marriage postfacto and pray to God for blessing the couple.
A stage has come where Orthodox Churches also need to look at some such alternative
Knanaya community is still following marriage from there own community, what is your thought on that sir?
ReplyDeleteReply to the comment by John Samuel:
ReplyDeleteKnanaya community allows marriages from within their community for maintaining the": purity of Blood" as they claim it.They believe that they are decedents of some 400 families that migrated into Malankara along with Thomas of Cane. They also believe that from then on their community members married only within this lineage . Whether this claim ,like many other claims they make may not be correct historically . But today , they are also being tolerant to their members marrying from other Christian families or even from other religious background
Thanks Thomas Chandy for the thought provoking article on this issue that our Church should consider in a changing social structure. This has to be tackled urgently.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that I would also like to point out that Ruth the Moabite married Boaz and Jesus Christ is a descendant of this lineage. Accepting Ruth into the Hebrew community must have been an uphill task in those days. But concessions were made, adjustments were done, and 'it was good'.
So the first option of excommunication I feel is too harsh, and if we try that there might not be many young people remaining in the Church!
The second is an option that is taken by the couple, and the church is not bound to endorse it, but what would the church do in such a situation is quite interesting to find out.
The third is already happening as we see many marriages taking place with the Groom or the bride becoming a Christian.
What is most important is that whatever the Church decides or has condoned or has allowed, should be written down as unambiguously as possible and these have to be published, so that no individual priest/or church committee, will interpret it in their own way. This causes a lot of pain and trauma to the parents and the children who are getting married, because they are made to run from pillar to post, at a time when they are already stressed.
This is a good question. I agree with the approach that both the boy and the girl should be allowed to continue in their respective faith. The question for the church is if there can be a way to include the family in the church. An inclusive approach is the way to go. As the years roll by these situations would be the norm rather than the exceptions. A prepared church will benefit by retaining the younger members.
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