On Saturday the Bishop of Antwerp, Johan Bonny, called for ecclesiastical recognition of bi- and homosexual relationships, thereby challenging the dogma of the Catholic Church that recognizes only male/female unions.
With this appeal, Johan Bonny becomes one of the first leaders of the Belgian church to attack the absolute monopoly of marriage between men and women. "We must look within the Church for a formal recognition of relationship which is also present in many bi- and homosexual couples. Just as in society there is a variety of legal frameworks for couples, there should also be a variety of forms of recognition within the Church."
The bishop of Antwerp, most likely successor to Archbishop Leonardo (Mechelen-Brussels/Primate of Belgium) who will be retiring in 2015, believes that bi- and homosexual couples should be able to obtain an ecclesiastical blessing.
