Italian brides, grooms to 'accept' not 'take' each other in marriage

Published: 2004-11-04

ROME (CNS) -- Italian brides and grooms marrying in Catholic churches will no longer "take" each other as husband or wife, but will "accept" each other. "This small change of wording emphasizes the fact that the other is a gift, not something that one takes of one's own accord," said Father Sergio Nicolli, director of the Italian bishops' office for the family. With the first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 28, the Italian Catholic bishops' new rites and rituals for the sacrament of matrimony go into effect; the texts currently in use were approved in 1969. "Some of the changes," Father Nicolli said, "were the result of a deeper theological understanding, while others were motivated by cultural changes," including the fact that while the vast majority of Italians are baptized Catholics very few attend Mass regularly.

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