Folia Theologica et Canonica, Supplementum (2016)
Hanns Engelhardt, Marriage and Divorce In Anglican Canon Law
66 HANNS ENGELHARDT or that such defects of personality have been shown to exist as to make the continuance of the marriage impossible (Sec. 2 [4/f/v]). It appears that the first alternative covers the cases of nullity in which the reasons therefor existed at the time of the initiation of the marriage already while in the cases of the second alternative the reasons may have come into being only in the course of the marriage. If a communicant member of the Church, after divorce of a former marriage, contracts a new union not observing the described procedure (Sec. 2 [4]) he or she is automatically (i.e. lata sententia) suspended from the reception of Holy Communion (Can. XVII Sec. 5 [2]). VI. Same-Sex Unions As compared with contracting or dissolving marriage, same-sex unions are a modern problem in ecclesiastical law.51 Same-sex marriages are, however, not an invention of the 20"’ or 2P' century. Roughly 1950 years ago the Roman emperor Nero twice celebrated a marriage with another man, and with great splendour, first with his ex-slave Pythagoras - not the mathematician - and later with one Sporus, whom he had castrated before and given - as far as possible - a female outlook.52 Sporus officially accompanied Nero on his journey to Greece, and the Greek have been reported to have celebrated the couple and even prayed publicly that they might be blessed with children.53 It has been said that the Greek were rather clever in dealing with unpredictable mighty rulers. Within the Anglican Communion the question of blessing same-sex unions came to the fore in Canada at first, when the Diocese of Westminster allowed such blessings. On the national level, however, the Anglican Church in Canada is still in a consultation process. Insofar Canada has been overtaken by the Episcopal Church.54 51 For a Roman Catholic opinion cf. e.g., Weib, A., Ehe, nichteheliche Lebensgemeinschaft und eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft im sakularen staatlichen Umfeld aus kirchlicher Sicht, in Archiv fiir katolisches Kirchenrecht 183 (2014) 447-459. 52 Sonnabend, H., Nero Inszenierung der Machi, Darmstadt 2016. 105. 53 Sonnabend, H., Nero Inszenierung derMacht, 106. 5-1 On 10 June, 2016, the General Synod of the Scottish Episcopal Church has passed the first reading of a change to its Can. 31 on marriage to the effect that the doctrinal statement regarding marriage as to be understood as a union “of one man and one woman” shall be removed from this Canon. A second reading of the Canon shall take place in June 2017, at which for the motion to be passed definitely, it must achieve a majority of two thirds in the orders of bishops, clergy and laity within the General Synod. As in other Provinces of the Communion a conscience clause shall reserve clergy opposed to the change the right to refuse to marry people of the same sex. [Anglican Communion News Sendee (ACNS) 10 June 2016] On the other hand,
