by Rex Wockner
Norway will become the seventh nation to grant same-sex couples access to full marriage in January, but the dominant Church of Norway will not marry gays, the state church's bishops said Oct. 8.
Pastors will be permitted to offer prayers for gay couples who get married but may not bless them, the bishops said.
Same-sex marriage also is allowed in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain and, in the U.S., California, Connecticut and Massachusetts.