“Mixed marriages are one of the main problems for pastoral work in Bulgaria and the most burning issue concerns the choice of the faith in which to bring up children”, said the President of the Bulgarian Bishops’ Conference Monsignor Hriszto Projkov in a briefing to SIR during the meeting of the Bishops’ Conferences of South-East Europe, recently held at Oradea, in Romania. In his address the President of the Ccee (Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences) Cardinal Peter Erdö had clarified what is meant by mixed marriages according to canon law, i.e. marriages between a Catholic and a member of another Christian confession, or between a Catholic and a Muslim or atheist. In the countries of South-East Europe, where Catholics are often a minority, marrying a Catholic is very difficult. “There’s a difference between the position of the Catholic Church and that of the Orthodox Church which does not accept mixed marriages”, explained Proikov -. In the Catholic Church a dispensation can be obtained from the local bishop, but only on condition that the children be educated in the Catholic faith. This gives rise to problems, because even if the parents initially give their consent, they later come to regret educating their children in a different faith”.
