Proposal for gender-neutral marriages puts future of church weddings in doubt

Bjarne Kallis

Eero Huovinen

Oras Tynkkynen

print this

Christian Democratic Party MP Bjarne Kallis proposed in a newspaper interview a week ago Sunday that the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church should give up its right to perform weddings with legal standing if a proposal for a law on gender-neutral marriage is passed.
      If that were to happen, civil weddings would be mandatory for everyone, and couples would have the option to get the church’s blessing in a separate ceremony.
      Germany and France both have a system of mandatory civil weddings for all couples.
     
Bishop Eero Huovinen of the Helsinki Diocese of the Lutheran Church, says that the church should seriously consider such a move if gender-neutral marriage becomes law.
      “According to the natural law view of humanity and the Lutheran faith, marriage is an institution between a man and a woman”, said Huovinen in a written statement on Monday last week. Huovinen is stepping down from his post in September.
     
However, concerns have been voiced in the Lutheran Church that giving up the right to marry couples could lead to a general loss of interest in membership in the church.
      The general perception is that many of today’s secularised Finns maintain church membership primarily to be able to partake in a traditional church wedding.
     
Kallis sees the move as a way to deal with internal pressures within the church with respect to gay and lesbian marriages.
      “Only if the law is approved would there be reason to take such steps. If this could reduce problems in the future, I do not feel that it would weaken the position of the church”, Kallis says.
     
A proposal for gender-neutral marriage was made by Green MP Oras Tynkkynen.
      In the current Parliament, the Christian Democrats and the True Finns oppose the proposed change.
      The Centre Party has said that the matter is not among the party’s goals. National Coalition Party MPs Ben Zyskowicz and Lenita Toivakka have said that a clear majority of the party’s current Members of Parliament are against the proposal, in spite of a decision by the party’s congress in June to support such a move.
      Same-sex couples in Finland can now form registered civil unions.
     
Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi (Centre) says that the proposal to allow same sex couples to marry will not move forward in the months remaining in the current Parliamentary term.
      Kiviniemi also said last week that she hopes that church weddings would still be possible even if gender-neutral marriage is allowed.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Widespread support within Parliamentary parties for gender-neutral marriage (13.4.2010)
  Complaints of gay discrimination in Lutheran Church (12.4.2010)
  Lutheran bishops take cautious stance on same-sex couples (11.2.2010)

See also:
  Nat. Coalition Party delegates endorse abolition of mandatory Swedish, gender-neutral marriage (14.6.2010)
  Planned bill would allow in-family adoption rights for same-sex couples (29.11.2007)

Helsingin Sanomat