Thomas Knieps-Port le Roi INTAMS review | Volume 15 | Issue 1 | Spring 2009 | Pages > Editorial (Full-text) Marriage in Western societies has always had both a legal and a symbolic significance. Defined as a contract throughout most of Christian history, it served a variety of purposes, ranging from allocating economic resources and cementing relations between tribes, clans and families to establishing children’s place within a given line of heritage. But next to fulfilling such practical needs, it also drew people’s imagination to some invisible reality which it ought to represent and which married couples, depending on their good will and personal capacities, were supposed to bring about to a greater or lesser degree. The church initially, but subsequently also secular ideologies, regarded marriage as a symbol that pointed to another, deeper reality, be it God’s covenant with humanity or Christ’s self-giving love for the church, be it the dreamed of restoration of a lost unity between the sexes or the realization of a perfect union of soul mates. Although legal and financial aspects and practical considerations still play a role in the decision to marry, this second, symbolic significance seems to have gained importance in today’s marriages. This is at least the impression one gets from recent surveys and studies which all more or less unanimously report that despite its shrinking practical utility and its optional character, many people still value marriage very highly, and many couples are indeed deciding to get married, often after having lived together for some time. It is somewhat unclear, however, why people enter marriage, what feeds the imaginations, projections, and dreams they associate with it and what kind of experiences are at the basis of the meanings they give to it. Do couples simply wish to consolidate their union and give it social recognition or do they have a sense of “something more”, something transcendent that might fulfil their deepest aspirations? And then, if it is true that marriage today has an increased symbolic value, is it in any way tributary to the symbolism that Christianity has seen in it and propagated for many centuries, or is it rather its secular derivation or a completely different kind of symbolic expression? These were some of questions that were addressed and discussed during this year’s annual INTAMS Colloquium which took place from 13-14 March 2009 at the Catholic University of Leuven under the title “’More Than Just Being Together’: Sacred and Secular Symbols of Marriage”. This issue of the INTAMS review contains the main contributions to the colloquium. The first series of papers focused on the meaning our contemporaries attach to marriage and asked whether they refer to any “symbolic” dimension and what kind of symbolism may be evoked here. Sylvain De Bleeckere’s look into contemporary film culture revealed on the one hand that marriage has lost its standing as a social institution, but on the other detected signs for a rediscovery of the marital relationship as a place onto which the meaning of life and humanity are projected. A sociological analysis of the current motives for marriage and its significance was provided by Aat Liefbroer under the title “Marriage in Contemporary Europe: Who Marries and Why?” Unfortunately, this contribution could not be reproduced in this number, but we hope to include it in a future issue. From a theological point of view, Thomas Knieps-Port le Roi diagnosed a double speechlessness, from both the contemporary mindset and the Christian churches, when it comes to the symbolic meaning of marriage and pleaded for a renewed dialogue. The second part of the colloquium looked more specifically into what forms of expression couples are seeking and how they concretely express their vision of the marital union, particularly in and around the wedding celebration. Three contributions from the practical field brought the participants in contact with the concrete images, expectations and attitudes that marrying couples bring to their wedding. Keith Chappel and Lisette Blanchet Ball, both involved in marriage and family life ministry of the Roman Catholic Church in the UK, had undertaken surveys with couples presenting themselves for marriage preparation. They were thus able to offer useful insights into what these couples associated with marriage and how its perception has changed over time. Ann Verlinden, the founder of the first office for personal rituals in Flanders, confirmed from her experience that even in a secularised, individualised and consumption-oriented society, the need for rites of passage is acute and not limited to those affiliated with an official form of religion. Finally, a re-reading of the Christian marital rite was offered by Ottmar Fuchs who interpreted the liturgical celebration of the marital sacrament as an unconditional gift of God’s grace which should be made accessible to all who ask for it, whether distanced from the church or remaining affiliated to it. Although originally not connected to the conference, Simone Fopp’s study on the wedding celebration in the Reformed Church of Switzerland adds to the colloquium’s reflections on the marital rite. Two further articles conclude this issue: Stephan Nacke explores the conditions, difficulties and possibilities for an adequate representation of Catholic family organizations at the level of policy-making within the European Union and Caroline Simon urges us to consider self-reflection, judiciousness, and honest dialogue while dealing with different cultural understandings of sexuality.