Australian same sex marriage implications
With the commencement of the legislation adopting same-sex marriage for Australia today, 9 December, it seems worthwhile to note some more implications, following my initial comments on the change. The two I would like to address here are the changes to the “monitum”, the summary of Australian marriage law required to be recited by some celebrants; and the possible issues surrounding what I will call “rogue priests”, clergy in one of the mainstream Christian denominations who may wish to solemnise same-sex marriages when their denomination adheres to the historic Christian position that marriage is only between a man and a woman. The “monitum” This is a curious word which will not be familiar to most people who are not marriage celebrants! In fact even the definition given in the standard Oxford English Dictionary refers to its original usage in the Roman Catholic Church to refer to a “warning” given by ecclesiastical authorities, but does not note the use of the word in the ma