The Supreme Court recognized yesterday that non-marital unions have legal weight. The decision came after the high court heard the case of a woman whose common-law husband was killed in a traffic accident. The deceased had authorized an indemnity for his live-in companion. The ruling explained that for such a union to be legal the couple must live together publicly and openly and it does not include secret relationships. El Siglo says the decision recognizes the different kinds of unions and family groups that exist today. Meanwhile, Cardinal Nicolás de Jesus López Rodríguez has criticized the judgment, saying “obviously those of us who believe in matrimony can’t accept that to be free is the same as to be married.”
