DEACON FOR LIFE

Were there to be no support in the whole history of ethical and moral thought, were there no acknowledged confirmation from medical science, were the history of legal opinion to the contrary, we would still have to conclude on the basis of God's Holy Word that the unborn child is a person in the sight of God. He is protected by the sanctity of life graciously given to each individual by the Creator, Who alone places His image upon man and grants them any right to life which they have.

Friday, May 30, 2014

The Myth and Reality of Second Marriages among the Orthodox

There is a widespread opinion that the Eastern Churches permit a new marriage after divorce, and give communion to the remarried. But this is not the case, as Nicola Bux explains. Only the first marriage is celebrated as a true sacrament

by Sandro Magister

The current idea is that in the Orthodox Churches there is a sacramental celebration of second and even third marriages and that communion is given to the divorced and remarried.

When in reality this is not the case at all. Orthodoxy has always differentiated first and second marriages not only in ceremony but also in substance, as is clearly demonstrated by the strongly penitential tone of the prayers for second marriages.

Read more here: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350806?eng=y