marriage, families & spirituality

CURRENT ISSUE

Marriage, Families & Spirituality, vol. 30/1 (2024)

special theme issue

Interchurch Marriage and Ecumenism

Are differences of faith, like that between a Catholic and another Christian, insuperable obstacles to marital union?

This has long been argued. Today, however, cross-denominational couples are very common. We find that two people from different Christian denominations, each committed to their own tradition, can forge a productive marriage.

The articles in this issue argue that these interchurch marriages can not only be good for the couple but can also be helpful in the ecumenical quest for Christian unity. The authors explore perceptions, legislation, and possibilities presented by these couples. In our pluralistic societies, the church would do well to turn to the resources these couples can bring to prolonging a unified Christian witness to the world.

Table of Contents

(click on the titles for abstracts --> coming soon)

Editorial by Thomas Knieps-Port le Roi & Ray Temmerman (full text coming soon)

Articles:

Diane & Greg A. Ryan: From Experiment to Encounter: Receiving Interchurch Families in a Synodal Church

Clare Watkins: “Communion, Participation, Mission”: Interchurch Families’ Gifts of Discernment and Synodality for the Wider Church

Francesco Pesce: They Have a Common Bed, But Not a Common Table: Faith and Relationship in Mixed Marriages

Daniel J. Olsen: Interchurch Families: Ecclesial Gifts for the New Missionary Age

Dorothea Sattler: Eucharistie feiern in konfessionsverbindenden Familien: Stimmen aus dem deutschsprachigen Raum zu einem weltkirchlich relevanten Thema

Vimal Tirimanna: Interfaith Marriages: An Asian Perspective

Ray Temmerman: Interchurch Families: Problem to be Solved, or Gift to be Received?

Doral Hayes: After the Funeral: An Ethnographic Reflection on a Funeral Mass through the Lens of Interchurch Families

Testimonies:

Matthew E. Chen: Mixed Marriage: An Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Perspective

David & Joyce Makumi: “You Shall Be My Witnesses”: Reflections of a Kenyan Catholic-Pentecostal Couple

Commentaries:

Jochen Sautermeister: God’s Love Embraces Everyone: On the New Declaration Fiducia Supplicans by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith

Todd A. Salzman & Michael G. Lawler: Dignitas Infinita: Anthropologically and Methodologically Consistent?

Book Reviews:

Rainer Gottschlag: J. Bremer (Hg.): Ein Kelch für zwei: Zur ökumenischen Debatte um die Kommunion bei konfessionsverbindenden Paaren

Marriage in Antiquity

Michael Tilly: J. Beneker/G. Tsouvala (eds.): The Discourse of Marriage in the Greco-Roman World

Gisbert Greshake: K. Berger: Ehe und Himmelreich: Frau und Mann in Urchristentum

Petri Assenga: K.J. Bøggild/J.H. Petersen (eds.): Family Lives: Aspects of Life and Death in Ancient Families

David Dawson Vásquez: L.C. Engh (ed.): The Symbolism of Marriage in Early Christianity

Cultural Issues

Petri Assenga: D.S. Dockery/J. Stonestreet (eds.): Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty

Geert Faseur: S. Horsch/M. Kisi/K. Klausing/A. Abdel-Rahman: Der Islam und die Geschlechterfrage

Elizabeth Butterfield: L. Hyland: Marital Separation in Contemporary Ireland

Thou Ngaoni: K. Lemons: Divorcing Traditions: Islamic Marriage Law and the Making of Indian Secularism

Celia Y.S. Tsui:  D.J. Lindemann: Commuter Spouses: New Families in a Changing World

Rémy Lebrun: M. Löhnig (Hg.): Kulturkampf um die Ehe: Reform des europäischen Eherechts nach dem Großen Krieg

William L. Portier: S.A. Werner: The Restless Flame, Daniel A. Lord, SJ

Human Dignity

Jason Steidl: R. Reczek/E. Bosely-Smith: Families We Keep: LGBTQ People and Their Enduring Bonds with Parents

Julia van der Linde: A. Schneider/N. Schneider: Vom Leben und Sterben: Ein Ehepaar diskutiert über Sterbehilfe, Tod und Ewigkeit

Julia van der Linde: T. Theuke: Der Embryo und die  Menschenwürde

The Couple

Pui-ling Chau: A. Balfour/C. Clulow/K. Thompson (eds.): Engaging Couples

Giulia Paola Di Nicola: G. Del Missier/R. Massaro/P. Contini: Per il bene possible della coppia

Go here for our complete list of book reviews