Devon Dick
RECENTLY, THE Roman Catholic Church made a rare concession concerning matters of sexuality when it offered some legal protection to unmarried heterosexual couples. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, speaking on behalf of the Church, said that 'de facto' unions of unmarried couples will be granted full legal recognition as is done for the traditional marriage.
This partial recognition of common-law unions is revolutionary for the Roman Catholic Church. This is a Church that has maintained mandatory celibacy on priests from 1129 AD in spite of pressure from within and without. This is a Church that has said no to artificial contraceptives in spite of the growing popularity of condoms. This is a Church that maintains that sex in marriage is for procreation only. This is a Church that has said no to same-sex unions and marriages in spite of the acceptance by the Anglican church in the U.S.A. and other so-called developed provinces. So this new status for persons who 'shack up' is a watershed ruling.
LEGAL RIGHTS TO COMMON-LAW UNIONS
Some years ago, the Jamaican Government passed a law which gave legal rights and protection to persons who have lived together continuously for at least five years. However, what was not clear was the position of the Church on that matter. Rev. Dr. Vivian Panton, chaplain of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and former vice-president of the Jamaica Baptist Union, proposed recognition of persons who live together in a committed relationship. It did not gain traction in Christian circles but perhaps church leaders might revisit the issue and develop a position since the Roman Catholic Church has made a concession.
Common-law relationships have been a feature of Jamaica from the nineteenth century. Fourde (1833) The English in the West Indies remarked that there were persons who were 'married but not parsoned'. He claimed that persons in these relationships were not licentious or immodest. In addition, it was the popular belief then that a relationship does not work if it begins with a legal marriage and some women preferred this arrangement so that if they were ill-treated they could leave.
There was a time when only Christian marriages were recognised in Jamaica. Therefore, one performed by a Hindu priest was not lawful. However, things and times have changed. And perhaps now is the time to change other things.
With the tabling of the Maintenance Bill further changes are being proposed.
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
The traditional church response has been to encourage legal marriages; therefore Church membership is postponed until after legal marriage. That is perhaps one of the reasons the Jamaica Women's Federation held mass weddings in the 1940s. In addition, it provided legal protection for women. But is it a marriage if a minister who is not a marriage officer blesses the union?
However, with the developments, especially in the Anglican Church, marriage has to be re-examined. Bishop Gene Robinson of the U.S.A. left his wife and cleaved to a man. This was a 'gentlemanly agreement' between man and man.
Can heterosexual unions be treated in a similar way? Can it be based on a gentlemanly agreement? Marriages have changed in the Bible from Adam and Eve to Jacob and Rebecca days and is there a place for more changes? There are legal contracts but there are also binding contracts based on word of mouth!
BINDING COMMITMENT
A case can be made out that a couple could make a commitment to each other and it is binding. True love could be experienced and fidelity a hallmark of that relationship. In that case, it does not need five years for it to be recognised and offered legal protection. In fact, if they cohabit for two years or a child has been produced from cohabiting then there should be some legal protection and recognition.
However, the problem is how does one break off such an understanding? And could someone have a gentlemanly agreement with more than one person simultaneously?
This is not an easy issue. It still appears as if the tradition of having witnesses in the presence of God and before an official of the society is the better way but concessions should be made both by Church and State to persons in a committed relationship for two years!
Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of Boulevard Church and author of 'Rebellion to Riot: the Church in Nation Building'.
