In fact, the 2021 stats show New Zealand's marriage and divorce numbers are the lowest since the 1970s.

Marriages and Civil Unions

Stats NZ says last year 15,657 marriages and civil unions were registered to New Zealand residents. Of these, 312 were same-sex marriages or civil unions.

These figures show a noticeable drop from previous years (16,779 in 2020 and 19,071 in 2019).

A closer look at last year's marriages and civil unions shows 1,505 were first marriages or civil unions and 4,146 were remarriages or civil unions.

In addition, six couples (both same-sex and opposite-sex) transferred between a civil union and a marriage.

Besides these, an additional 231 marriages and civil unions were registered to overseas residents. Nine of them were same-sex marriages or civil unions.

Stats NZ says the number of marriages and civil unions has dropped significantly since its peak in 1971.

The general marriage rate was 7.7 marriages and civil unions per 1,000 people aged 16 years and over who are not married or in a civil union. (Transfers between a marriage and civil union are excluded.)

Stats NZ says this rate is below the average of 10.1 over the previous five years. It continues a long downward trend.

Even though the number of marriages is continuing to decrease, Stats NZ suggests it is likely that the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in even fewer marriages in 2021 than expected otherwise.

Divorces

Stats NZ data shows in 2021 6,372 couples were granted divorces in New Zealand.

This is the lowest annual number of divorces since 1979.

"Divorces have been generally decreasing since the early 2000s, as has the divorce rate," Stats NZ population estimates and projections manager Hamish Slack says.

"The divorce rate, which shows the number of divorces per 1,000 estimated existing marriages, has also dropped back to mid-1970s levels."

In 1974 there were 6.4 divorces per 1,000 marriages.

Last year there were 6.2 divorces for every 1,000 estimated existing marriages and civil unions, down from 9.7 in 2011.

Stats NZ also reports that 4,842 children under 17 years of age had parents who were granted a divorce last year. This number is down from 6,909 in 2011, and 8,748 in 2001.

In 1981 a change in law made it easier for couples to divorce.

Source

• Stats NZ
• Scoop
• Image: 1 News

It said Francis did not question the Catholic dogma of marriage being between a man and a woman.

"It's clear that Pope Francis was referring to certain arrangements by states, certainly not to Church doctrine, which has often been reaffirmed over the years," the Secretariat of State wrote in a note sent to papal ambassadors late last week

A recent film, "Francesco", which premiered last month, spliced together parts of an old interview with a new one.

The Vatican secretariat of state says in the film Francis's comments on gay marriage refer to his position on gay marriage in 2010.

At the time he strongly opposed allowing same-sex marriage but favoured extending legal protections to gay couples under a civil union law.

While Francis was known to have taken that position privately, he had never articulated his support while as pope.

His private views are contrary to Catholic doctrine.

The pope's comments made headlines, primarily because the Vatican issued a document prohibiting such endorsement in 2003.

The document says the church's support for gay people "cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions."

The uproar following the pope's comments gained more attention because "Francesco" director Evgeny Afineevsky misled journalists.

He claimed Francis made the comments to him and he had in two on-camera interviews with him.

In fact, Francis's comments were taken from a May 2019 interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa. They were never broadcast.

The Vatican has not commented on reports saying it cut the quote from the footage it provided to Televisa after the interview, which was filmed with Vatican cameras.

Afineevsky apparently was given access to the original, uncut footage in the Vatican archives.

The secretariat of state says the quote came from a 2019 interview. The comments used in the documentary spliced together parts of two different responses in a way that removed crucial context and has led to confusion, the secretariat says.

In the film, Afineevsky recounts the story of Andrea Rubera, a married gay Catholic who wrote Francis asking for his advice about bringing into the church his three children with his husband.

Rubera says Francis urged him to approach his parish transparently and bring the children up in the faith, which he did. The film then cuts to Francis' comments from the Televisa interview.

"Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of God," Francis said.

"You can't kick someone out of a family, nor make their life miserable for this. What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally covered."

Francis was not endorsing the right of gay couples to adopt children, though Rubera's story made it seem so.

His comments about gay civil unions came from a different part of the Televisa interview and included several caveats that were not included in the film.

He made clear he was explaining his position about the unique case in Buenos Aires 10 years ago, as opposed to Rubera's situation or gay marriage as a whole.

He says he always maintains Catholic doctrine and that there is an "incongruenza" for the Church as far as "homosexual marriage" is concerned.

The documentary eliminated that context.

Source

• PBS News
• SBS
• Image: NBC News

"They're children of God and have a right to a family," he'd been recorded saying on footage included in the feature-length documentary, Francesco, which had just premiered. "Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it."

Then came the line that has generated so much controversy: "What we have to have is a civil-union law; that way they are legally covered."

Bold headlines splashed across the Catholic press. "Pope Francis declares support for same-sex civil unions for the first time as pope," read a typical example.

Mainstream outlets like the Washington Post reported the news in a similar way: "Pope Francis calls for civil union laws for same-sex couples."

Meanwhile, commentators scrambled to tell us what it all meant.

One of his biographers, capturing the mood among many of Francis's admirers, described the pope as "speaking directly and unambiguously of the right of gay people to be in families, i.e. loving relationships of care and tenderness underpinned by long-term commitment."

These headlines, and the stories and commentary swirling around them, were, strictly speaking, accurate.

It was the first time since becoming pope that Francis had spoken publicly in favour of civil unions for same-sex couples, and such an endorsement shouldn't be downplayed—even if it felt like something of a belated concession.

As Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, argued after the news broke, when the pope speaks, "he sends forth ripples that have an effect on how policy and pastoral ministry is carried out on all levels of the church."

Though he was not talking directly about doctrine, or advocating for any formal change in Church teaching, Francis's affirming words could encourage parishes and priests, and all Catholics, to be more welcoming of LGBTQ people.

As DeBernardo also emphasized, the comments could especially make a difference in places where, too often with the backing of local bishops, same-sex relationships have been criminalized.

But since news of what Francis said broke, the story has grown more complex—and confusing. It turns out that his endorsement of civil unions did not even happen during filming for Francesco.

Instead, as the New York Times reported, the pope's comments were made in a 2019 interview with a Mexican broadcaster, Televisa. It had been filmed with Vatican cameras, and they controlled what could be done with the footage.

According to two people close to Televisa, "The Vatican cut out the pope's remarks on same-sex unions in the edited version."

The raw footage capturing the remarks about civil unions, however, was placed in the Vatican's archives. When the makers of Francesco were given access to the archives, they found the footage and used it in their documentary.

Thus, Francis's comments were finally made public. Surely, though, this convoluted path to their being shared means that words such as "declares" or "calls for" or "directly and unambiguously" are, if not literally wrong, then at least highly misleading.

What kind of declaration is made by allowing, perhaps inadvertently, archival footage to be used in a documentary?

Since we don't know if Francis knew that the endorsement had been cut from the original interview or if he knew that it would be included in the new documentary, can it be truly said that he intended to make these views known now, let alone describe him as forthrightly calling for such measures?

These are legitimate questions, not conspiratorial accusations—which some, unfortunately, have indulged.

There seems to be no reason to question the authenticity of the footage, and while the nuances of the Spanish phrase Francis used, convivencia civil', might be debated, there's wide agreement that it includes what's commonly meant by the term civil unions.

Clarification about these matters, alas, does not appear to be forthcoming. As the Associated Press revealed, "The Vatican has refused to comment and imposed something of a media blackout on the matter.

None of the Vatican's in-house media has reported on the cut quote, and on Friday the daily Il Fatto Quotidiano quoted an email from a staffer in the Vatican's communications ministry to other staff saying there wouldn't be any comment, but that 'talks are underway to deal with the current media crisis.'"

If that really is the case, it further undercuts the notion that the pope's endorsement is best understood as an announcement of some kind.

Wouldn't the Vatican at least say something affirmative about what's happened, or be prepared to respond in some way, if that was the intention? Continue reading

His most recent comments were made in "Francesco," a new documentary on his life and ministry.

The film premiered Oct. 21 as part of the Rome Film Festival.

In the film, Francis says that "Homosexuals have a right to be a part of the family. They're children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out, or be made miserable because of it."

The pope then suggests that civil union laws may provide a way for countries to protect the legal rights of persons in same-sex relationships.

Although the media reported the comments as "fresh" and Francis departing from previous 'teachings', he has previously spoken in favour of civil unions.

Francis first spoke about civil unions in 2013, when Argentina and facing the near-certain passage of the gay marriage bill, and the then Cardinal Bergoglio wagered on a position of greater dialogue with society and suggested civil unions as a compromise to his fellow bishops.

He was outvoted.

Then again in 2014, in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, he acknowledged that states passing civil union laws were primarily doing so in order to provide same-sex partners legal rights.

And in 2017, French author, Dominique Wolton asked him about marriage for same-sex couples and Francis replied: "Let's call this 'civil unions.' We do not joke around with the truth".

However, it is his most recent comment that has captured the world's attention and is welcomed by many on the progressive wing of the church.

One such is Jesuit Fr James Martin who has advocated for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the Church.

He labels Francis' comments 'historic'.

"First, he is saying them as Pope, not Archbishop of Buenos Aires, second, he is clearly supporting, not simply tolerating, civil unions. Third, he is saying it on camera, not privately," tweeted Martin.

However, Francis is under pressure from church conservatives such as Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island.

"The Pope's statement clearly contradicts what has been the long-standing teaching of the Church about same-sex unions," Tobin said in a statement.

"The Church cannot support the acceptance of objectively immoral relationships."

The reaction within the LGBTQ community is similarly mixed.

"This news should send an undeniable message to Catholic families with LGBTQ people that all family members are deserving of acceptance and support," said Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of the LGBTQ media advocacy organisation GLAAD.

"Pope Francis' public approval is a fundamental step forward at a time when LGBTQ acceptance around the world and across religions is expanding and rightfully becoming the norm."

And, "It is no overstatement to say that with this statement not only has the pope protected LGBTQ couples and families, but he also will save many LGBTQ lives," said Francis DeBernardo of New Ways Ministry, which represents LGBTQ Catholics,

Others in the LGBTQ lobby, however, remain critical, saying Francis has taken too long to make the statement and not gone far enough and urge him to go further.

Shortly after becoming pope in 2013, he made big headlines when asked about reports of gays in the clergy, Francis answered, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has goodwill, who am I to judge?"

Sources

• NBC News
• NY Times
• James Martin SJ
• AP
• BBC
• Catholic World Report

Parliament is considering a bill in the name of National MP Joanne Hayes which is designed to protect 16 and 17 year-olds from forced marriage in New Zealand. Continue reading

This idea is increasingly out of fashion. Nearly half of British babies are born to unmarried parents. And now, in a strange twist on the gay rights movement, straight couples have started demanding the right to form civil unions instead of marriages. One test case on the matter has just found its way to the Court of Appeal.

The couple bringing the case want a civil union in order to benefit from the purely functional, legal advantages of marriage without any of the other baggage that they imagine it brings. It's unfair, they say, that gays can obtain civil unions and straights can't.

Girly girls have ruined marriage, the woman of the couple implies: "There are girls who grew up thinking about their wedding dress but I increasingly felt that outside of the fairy-tale of it all, that I do not feel like a wife. It just doesn't square with me," she told the BBC.

Well, I suppose they should be allowed to do what they want, but it's a deeply depressing idea.

The joy of a union between two adults is amplified by the symbolism and cultural importance of marriage. Without it, there's not much difference between getting married and filing a tax return.

Weddings don't need to follow a formula: a large dress, a cake, a drunk uncle (though as it happens, my wedding had all three). I've been to weddings small and large, formal and informal, town and country.

I've witnessed the traditional Christian ritual and secular versions, including one in which the congregation, asked to promise support for the marriage, said: "We do." But I have never heard of a marriage certificate obtained for legal reasons, whether it's a visa or an inheritance, that didn't go badly wrong. Continue reading

• Juliet Samuel is a columnist at the Telegraph Media Group, London.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, the head of the Italian Bishops Conference, said that civil unions between gay men and women only serve to "confuse people" and undermine traditional family life.

This is especially so if the couples go on to have children, either through adoption or through donor methods, he added.

Cardinal Bagnasco's warning comes only weeks after an interim report from the synod on the family had praised the "gifts" gays and lesbians offer the Church.

It also noted the "precious support" same-sex partners give to one other.

These statements did not make it into the final report from the synod.

But Cardinal Bagnasco told a meeting of Italian bishops in Assisi that "it is irresponsible to weaken the family by creating new forms".

"It only confuses people and has the effect of being a sort of Trojan horse, undermining culturally and socially the core of humanity," The Telegraph reported him saying.

Children "have a right to a mother and a father", Cardinal Bagnasco told the bishops.

Cardinal Bagnasco's remarks were interpreted as an attack on the increasing number of mayors in Italy who have recently made a point of recognising gay marriages performed overseas.

Same-sex marriage is illegal in Italy, but couples who have tied the knot in foreign countries have sought recognition from their local councils by registering their unions in town halls.

The action by mayors around the country earned a rebuke from Angelino Alfano, who is both deputy prime minister and interior minister.

Last month he ordered mayors to stop recognising gay marriages performed in other countries.

A survey last year showed that 85 per cent of Italians supported the idea of recognising civil unions which give same-sex partners more rights.

But the same poll showed that only 25 per cent were in favour of full gay marriage.

Sources

• The Telegraph
• CNN
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

At a press conference after the release of the synod's half way report (relatio), Archbishop Bruno Forte said "it seems obvious to me that humans have different experiences [and] have rights that must all be protected".

He did not equate same-sex unions with traditional marriage.

But he said: "Naturally, this does not mean that we should rule out looking for a way to describe the rights of people living in same-sex unions."

"It is a question - I think - of being civilised and respecting people's dignity."

At the press conference, when the synod's relator general, Cardinal Peter Erdo, was asked about the report's conciliatory statements on gay people, he turned the microphone over to Archbishop Forte.

"He who wrote the text must know what it is talking about," the cardinal said.

Queried about the statement that "homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community", Archbishop Forte said that "the fundamental idea is the centrality of the person independently of the sexual orientation".

Archbishop Forte was also asked to reflect further on the "positive elements" in cohabitation and same-sex unions.

"I think the document intends to find positive aspects wherever these are to be found and they do exist of course," he said.

"Rejecting something is easy, but recognising and giving value to all that is positive, even when dealing with these kinds of experiences, I think is an exercise in intellectual honesty and spiritual charity."

Some of the synod fathers have said the first week of discussions at the synod have recalled the spirit of Vatican II's Gaudium et Spes, Archbishop Forte said.

"[This is] the Church that looks kindly upon the world, making the expectations and the suffering of today's men and women its own."

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• Catholic World News
• Image: Catholic News Agency

Statistics from the 2013 census released on 5 May show that in 2013, the median age at first marriage was 30.1 years for men and 28.6 years for women - up from 27.3 and 25.2 years in 1993.

Although the median age at first marriage has increased over the last 20 years, most of the increase occurred before 2004 and the median age has remained relatively constant since then.

In 1971, when marriage rates peaked, the median age at first marriage was 23.0 years for men and 20.8 years for women.

Other Key Facts

Marriages

• Fewer New Zealand residents married; New Zealand residents registered 19,237 marriages in the December 2013 year down from 20,521 in 2012. Between 2003 and 2012, the annual number of resident marriages averaged 21,108.
• Of the 19,237 marriages were registered to New Zealand residents 209 were same-sex marriages.
• There were 13,312 first marriages, 5,825 remarriages, and 100 couples (both same-sex and opposite-sex) who transferred their civil union to a marriage.
• The general marriage rate was 10.9 marriages per 1,000 not-married population aged 16 years and over.
• An additional 2,416 marriages were registered to overseas residents - of these, 146 were same-sex marriages.

Divorces

• 8,279 married couples were granted divorces in New Zealand.
• There were 9.4 divorces for every 1,000 estimated existing marriages.
• Annual divorce statistics do not give a complete picture of the number of marriages ending in divorce.

Analysis of divorce statistics by year of marriage shows that just over one-third (35 percent) of New Zealanders who married in 1988 had divorced before their silver wedding anniversary (25 years). This compares with 32 percent for those who married in 1978, and 26 percent for those who married in 1968.

Civil unions

• 187 civil unions were registered to New Zealand residents - of these, 121 were same-sex unions.
• 46 civil unions were registered to overseas residents.
• 40 couples dissolved their civil union.

Source

• Statistic New Zealand
• Image: Great-Marriages.org

The wide-ranging interview, marking the first anniversary of Francis's pontificate, was published in Italy and Argentina.

Pope Francis praised Pope Paul VI's 1968 encyclical "Humanae Vitae", which prohibited the use of contraception.

He said Pope Paul's "genius was prophetic".

But he also noted that Pope Paul had instructed confessors to interpret his encyclical with "much mercy, attention to concrete situations".

"The question is not whether to change the doctrine, but to go deeper and make sure that pastoral care takes account of situations and of what each person is able to do," Pope Francis said.

The Pope said birth control, like the predicament of divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, would be a topic of discussion at the Vatican in October at an extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family.

Francis says the family is going through a "very serious crisis".

He also suggested the Church could tolerate some types of non-marital civil unions as a practical measure to guarantee property rights and health care.

But when asked about same-sex marriage, the Pope said marriage is between a man and a woman.

Pope Francis said cases of sex abuse by priests had left "very profound wounds".

But starting with the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, the Church has done "perhaps more than anyone" to solve the problem, the Pope added.

"No one else has done more. Yet the Church is the only one to have been attacked," he said.

Asked how the role of women will be better promoted in the Church, he was not specific but said: "It is true that women can and ought to be more present in the places where the Church's decisions are made.

"This, however, I would call a promotion of a ‘functional' type. Only, in this way, we do not get very far."

The Pope also rejected a mythology that depicts him as a superman.

The Pope said he is a normal person.

Sources

• Catholic News Service
• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Image: The Sacred Page

But one of those responsible for legalising civil unions in 2005, Labour Party general secretary Tim Barnett, believes they still have an important place in society.

According to provisional Statistics New Zealand figures released today, there were just eight civil unions in the December quarter last year and 23 the previous quarter - the lowest of any quarter since records began in 2005. Continue reading

Francis, in a conversation with leaders of religious orders published by a Jesuit journal on Friday, said the Catholic Church had to try not to scare away children who live in complex family situations, such as those whose parents were separated and those living with gay couples.

Francis gave the example of a little girl in Buenos Aires, his former diocese, who confided to her teacher the reason she was always sad was that "my mother's girlfriend doesn't like me."

The pope told the leaders of religious orders that a great challenge for the Church would be to reach out to children living in difficult or unorthodox domestic situations.

"The situation in which we live now provides us with new challenges which sometimes are difficult for us to understand," the pope said, according to the transcript of the conversation.

"How can we proclaim Christ to these boys and girls? How can we proclaim Christ to a generation that is changing? We must be careful not to administer a vaccine against faith to them," he said.

Italian media on Sunday ran headlines saying the pope's words were an opening to legal provision for civil unions for gay couples, a subject of debate in Italy. Continue reading

Thirty eight of these marriages have been between people who had already been in a civil union.

58 couples were resident in New Zealand, 24 were from elsewhere.

The Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Jeff Montgomery says it is expected the number of same sex weddings to increase "as we move into spring."

Of the 82 marriages 24 couples came from outside of New Zealand.

Same-sex marriage statistics since 19 August 2013. Country is based on usual residential address of each party.

Female-Female = 42 (of these 20 were a change of relationship from civil union)

• 7 couples from Australia
• 2 couples from China
• 1 couple from Hong Kong
• 1 couple from United Kingdom

• Male-Male = 40 (of these 18 were a change of relationship from civil union)

• 6 couples from Australia
• 4 couples from Thailand
• 1 couple from USA
• 1 couple from China
• 1 marriage where only one of the couple was from overseas (Australia)
• 1 couple were from the Philippines and the USA

Source

• Scoop
• Image: Radio Australia

On the Pope's record in Argentina, Allen says:

= Despite Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio's reputation as an opponent of liberation theology during the 1970s, historian Roberto Bosca insists that wasn't actually the case. He said Bergoglio accepted the premise of liberation theology, especially the option for the poor, but in a "nonideological" fashion.

= The Wall Street Journal reported that the bishops' conference of Argentina failed to meet a Vatican-imposed deadline of May 2012 for submitting a formal set of policies on fighting child abuse, noting that Bergoglio is the former president of the conference.

But Allen says Bergoglio's term as president ended in November 2011, and the bishops say the task was delayed until after a February 2012 summit on abuse in Rome, organised to give bishops' conferences information on best practices.

= Though the director of the Argentinian Catholic Information Agency insisted that Bergoglio would "never" have favoured any legal recognition of same-sex unions, two senior officials of the bishops' conference told Allen he supported civil unions.

= As for allegations that Bergoglio failed to oppose the "Dirty War" of the former military dictatorship, Allen was told there is no record of him being either a supporter or a critic of the regime.

"Bergoglio was not really a church authority back then," said the historian Roberto Bosca. "He wasn't a bishop yet in Buenos Aires, he was simply the regional superior of a religious order. The nature of his job didn't lend itself to taking positions for or against the government, and my impression is that during that period was simply trying to do his job."

Source:

National Catholic Reporter

Image: Voice of America

But Professor Rex Ahdar, from the Law Faculty of Otago University, says a flaw still remains in the most recent version of the Bill, despite the Select Committee's hope that the conscience clause that has been inserted would provide the necessary clarity that the Ministry of Justice and Crown Law advisers sought.

The Definition of Marriage (Amendment) Bill passed the second reading stage in New Zealand's parliament on Thursday 14 March. In this version of the Bill:

Section 29 amended (Licence authorizes but not obliges marriage celebrant to solemnize marriage)

In section 29, insert as subsection (2):

"Without limiting the generality of subsection (1), no celebrant who is a minister of religion recognised by a religious body enumerated in Schedule 1, and no celebrant who is a person nominated to solemnize marriages by an approved organisation, is obliged to solemnize a marriage if solemnizing that marriage would contravene the religious beliefs of the religious body or the religious beliefs or philosophical or humanitarian convictions of the approved organisation."

However Ahdar said the exemption is not worded widely enough.

"First, marriage celebrants who are independent and not members of any religious body or any approved organization are probably not protected. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, ministers of religion of existing religious bodies may not be protected either. How so? A religious minister whose denomination is divided on the issue of gay marriage may not be able to point to any authoritative ruling, precept, custom or teaching of his or her denomination that clearly states that only heterosexual marriage is right and acceptable."

Source

• Pundit.co.nz
• noliinsipientiuminiuriaspati.blogspot.co.nz

To point out that loving relationships are many and varied. To show that same-sex relationships can, like any other human bond, be about profound love, unquestioning support in times of trouble and deep friendship until death.

The added strain for same sex relationships is the institutionalized oppression of the society in which the relationship is played out.

Read the rest of Sande Ramage's Blog

Sande Ramage: writer, speaker, teacher, priest and singer in training.

Image: MyCelebrant.co.nz

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said he had requested a full legal brief from his department about the legislation that allows same-sex partnerships.

He said all aspects of the law were "open for discussion" and the legal advice would present options for possible changes, including a full repeal of the law or a partial repeal.

"All options are on the table," Mr Bleijie told The Australian.

"I simply asked for the advice. I'm not in any rush to do it, but we're not going to let it drag on to be a political circus. We want a resolution to it."

During the election campaign, leader Campbell Newman confirmed the Liberal National Party's opposition to civil unions, declaring they would look at repealing the changes immediately if elected. Read more