Although cohabitation is increasingly common in Poland, it is usually considered a transitional, testing stage that leads to marriage, which constitutes the preferred form of family life in the country. Does it mean that couples who do not choose to marry are perceived as somewhat “worse” than those tying the knot? Using qualitative data from focus group interviews with 69 men and women aged 25–40, I aimed to answer the following questions: What are social perceptions of couples who have already “tested” their relationship, but still live together and refrain from marriage? In particular, what are the motives attributed to such couples and how – if at all – these motives are linked to the quality of the relationships? There were four themes related to such motives identified in the analysed material: (1) the perception of marriage as an unnecessary expense that does not change anything in a relationship, or even makes things worse; (2) fear of an ultimate commitment; (3) uncertainty whether this is the right partner and the resulting low level of commitment in the relationship; (4) rejection of traditional gender roles. Commitment appears central in the analysed discussions suggesting that this concept should constitute an important topic in future studies on unions in Poland.

The paragraphs 300-305 belong to the most controversially discussed quotations of the Pope’s Francis Exhortation Amoris laetitia. A suggestion appears in them, that people living a non-sacramental unions can find themselves subjectively unable to act differently without causing a new harm, though at the same time they are fully aware that their present living conditions are objectively a grave sin. Such people – so the Pope says – are not deprived of the divine grace and could under some circum-stances received the sacraments. These statements are interpreted in different ways. According to the first interpretation the particular circumstances can change the moral character of the person’s act so far that the life in a non-sacramental union can no more be assessed as an adultery i.e. a grave sin. The supporters of the second inter-pretation claim that the particular circumstances could cause a grave moral constraint which – like other forms of constraint too - can diminish one’s moral responsibility, though his/her act remain objectively a grave sin. Eventually according to the third interpretation the statements of Pope Francis are in the present article related to the particular category of people living in non-sacramental unions namely those ones who are subjectively convinced that their first marriage was never valid.

This paper discusses the essence of marriage in the world’s major religions (Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, religions of primitive peoples) and presents the customs and forms of concluding marriage as well as the ethics of marital cohabitation. The paper goes on to analyse selected statements by the teaching offce of the Church on the subject of marriage and family in various religions. The question of „mixed” or interreligious marriage is analysed from the perspective of religious rules, law and interreligious dialogue. Attention is drawn to the pastoral care shown by the Catholic Church to mixed marriages and families. This care is a manifestation of interreligious dialogue. Each religion has its own unique understanding of the institution of marriage and family. A mixed marriage brings together two different views of this institution: these views are mutually exclusive in some aspects and coincident in other aspects. Marriage and family undoubtedly constitute the foundation of societies representing various cultures and religions. The religious views on marriage exert an indisputable impact on the moral and social order of individual groups, communities and societies.

Despite the concerted efforts of the German administration in the occupied Łódź region, German-Polish mixed intimate relation-ships persisted. This article analyzes this issue in the context of the German civilian population, particularly ethnic Germans from Łódź, and Poles. During World War II, the occupying forces sought to prevent the formation and legalization of new intimate relationships between ethnic Germans and Poles. They introdu-ced more relaxed divorce laws to facilitate the dissolution of existing marriages. The Deutsche Volksliste (German Peoples’ List, DVL), established in the spring of 1940, played a pivotal role in this policy. Despite internal confusion and dilemmas, many Polish partners and children in ethnically mixed, legalized relationships were allowed limited German citizenship status as Volksdeutsche in the lowest categories. The process of inclusion and exclusion was deeply intertwined during the classification, driven by the necessity to avoid “ethnic confusion” and the potential displeasure of their German partners. The complexity of this ethnic categorization system and the policies governing ethnically mixed relationships became increasingly intri-cate with each passing year of the German occupation of Poland. However, these complexities did not disrupt the stability of the eth-nic hierarchy imposed by the occupiers in Łódź.

In this article, I explore the content of Iran’s first women’s newspaper, Dānish (‘Knowledge’), published in Tehran in 1910–1911. Using the method of close reading, I address the question of the model of womanhood that was presented in the pages of the weekly. In this regard, I examine selected articles that appeared in the surviving issues of Dānish, distinguishing three dominant thematic areas: the education of girls and women; marital relationships; child rearing, hygiene, and health care. By putting the journal’s discourse in the context of the discussion on ‘women’s issues’ that was ongoing in the press during the Constitutional Revolution (1905–1911), I reflect on the relationship between the agenda of the early Iranian women’s movement and the discourse of constitutionalist nationalism.