Catholic Marriage

There is a conflict when the Catholic Church demands that “Marriage” should only be between a man and a woman. In the twelfth century Pope Alexander III gave the doge of Venice a ring and told him “Receive this ring as the symbol of your empire over the sea…You and your successors be married to her each year, so that succeeding generations may know that the sea is yours and belongeth to you as a spouse to a husband”. And so each year afterwards the succeeding Doge’s of Venice, Italy, dropped a wedding ring into the sea to renew his vow to Venice’s wife, the sea.
After the newly professed nun receives a blessing from a priest, she receives a blessed profession ring, a wedding ring. This ring is to symbolize her contract of virginity and perpetual chastity. The ring is the seal of the Holy Spirit. Through the reception of this ring, she is espoused forever to Jesus Christ. In other words, she is married to Christ.
These things are good things, both examples talk about love. In the case of Venice it is the love of the sea and the great wealth, material and knowledge that the mariners of Venice were able to achieve. Their exploits and the exploits of mariners all over the world gave us the beginnings of good science.
In the case of the good nuns married to Christ, despite all the funny Broadway shows, I personally will always be grateful for their love, their sacrifice and their marriage to Christ. I am not sure where I would be without them.
So there you are, two examples of marriage in the Catholic Church that is not between a “man and a women” but have produced great things, myself excluded my life relationship included.