Interreligious marriage: a look at the synod from India's perspective

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2014 / 16:01 pm

While some countries face family issues such as divorce and polygamy, the synod's Indian participants have voiced concern for interreligious marriages, which pose pastoral concerns across Asia.

"We have got this whole thing of mixed marriages, there are many marriages in India which are between (a) Catholic and somebody who is not baptized, a Hindu, a Muslim, or a Buddhist, and that is what specifically came out of India," Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay told CNA Oct. 10.

While marriage between a Catholic and an unbaptized person would normally be invalid, the local ordinary can dispense from this impediment, and thus allow such a marriage to be validly contracted (canon 1086).

Cardinal Gracias, who is part of Pope Francis' 'council of cardinals', explained that when faced with the difficult situations interreligious marriages can present, it's always necessary to have a "positive pastoral approach" to the couples and families involved.

The cardinal was accompanied to the synod by Fr. Cajetan Menezes, who is director of the Bombay archdiocese's Snehalaya Family Service Center.

Fr. Menezes has served as an auditor for the synod, and spoke to CNA Oct. 15 saying the topic of interreligious marriages was one of the three points he brought up when he addressed the synod fathers.

With the number of interreligious marriages on the rise across Asia, the priest said that it is an important issue, and one with which the Church needs to have a "very specific pastoral care."

"We need to reach out to them rather than look at them as problems. (They are) an opportunity to evangelize, and we need to take them on board," he said, explaining that interfaith couples are often "ostracized by their own families because they are going against family tradition."

"That creates more problems for them in their marriage, and that is not conducive for their marriage to grow and do well," he observed.

Although other countries might not share the pastoral difficulties caused by interreligious marriages, Fr. Menezes observed that "this is a big issue in Asia because we are a minority," and cited  India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Japan as being countries with a high percentage of interreligious couples.

Thus there is a need to specifically address the issue and to give interreligious families more help and support, particularly in light of the challenges the couples face due to the differing traditions of their families, the priest explained.

Fr. Menezes said that the synod's emphasis on welcoming and inviting those who are far from the Church or who find themselves in situations that could be problematic is also a way of embracing those who have been ostracized because of interreligious challenges.

"I think it's the first time I noticed (them) speaking a different (kind of) language, and I think that's a very positive influence of Pope Francis, (who) is reaching out, welcoming, and also looking at not only those who are at the center, but at the periphery," the priest continued.

By reaching out to the marginalized, the synod fathers are making great progress in their attempt to "get everybody on board," including members of the gay community and those who are divorced and remarried.

Cardinal Gracias, who has taken part in numerous synods before this, praised the free spirit in which discussion has taken place.

Even though each synod is free in its own way, the cardinal explained that when talking about the family "there is nothing which is taboo, nothing that you can't speak about, no one is frightened to say 'ok, this is a problem, we have got to face it.'"

To have differing opinions is important and essential, he said, and helps participants to reach more concrete, effective solutions.

"We have another synod next year which will be bigger (and) with more participation, and probably we will come to clearer conclusions at that particular moment of time," the cardinal noted, but for now he is happy that "it is working well."

Returning to the situation in India, Cardinal Gracias said that while Indians have traditionally maintained strong family ties, this is being influenced negatively by outside sources, including the film industry.

"I think that people are beginning to feel that this is not the best thing and we have got to try to reinforce the family," he said, noting that although a zero percent breakdown rate is impossible, "it should not be 50 percent."

However, he explained that much of a lasting family dynamic will depend on the preparation of the couple before marriage, as well as the process of accompanying them after the sacrament is contracted.