Attendees at a church convention agreed yesterday to permit priests to validate same-sex cohabitations, provided the laws on validated cohabitations will be amended so that religious association have the authority do to so.
Bishop of Iceland Karl Sigurbjörnsson said no church has taken a step like this before, adding he is satisfied with the outcome of the church convention, ruv.is reports.
Sigurbjörnsson said those who had disagreed on this issue had compromised with yesterday’s decision.
The debate involved the definition of marriage, the bishop explained, whether marriage was a holy union between any two individuals or only two individuals of the opposite sex.
Yesterday it was agreed that the traditional definition of marriage would not be changed but that same-sex couples could have their relationships validated by the church.
