When Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and his girlfriend, Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby, publicly announced early this month that they had bought an apartment in central Oslo for $610,000 and would live together as a couple, they were behaving like many other young couples in their liberal, northern European country. In Norway cohabitation—living together without being married—is very popular among young people, and also for many older couples. One in four Norwegian couples living together are not married, and nine out of 10 couples who do get married have already lived together. But after the announcement it became obvious that Prince Haakon—who will become both king and head of the state church, the Lutheran church, on the death of his father—cannot simply do what thousands of other Norwegians do. The decision he has taken with his partner has started a major debate among Norway's 4.4 million citizens. Many religious leaders have expressed regret or even sharp criticism. For most Norwegians, the prince's decision causes no problem, but one opinion poll found that 20 percent of the public thinks that the church should advise the couple to get married. Religious leaders have in fact been advising the prince to do just that, though the advice has been put more strongly in conservative church circles than elsewhere. Several church leaders have expressed regret that the Prince Haakon, who should be a role model for his people, has taken this step. They suggested that, according to biblical teaching, his decision is a sinful one. "The Crown Prince has chosen a way of life that is not supported by the church," said Halvor Nordhaug, head of Menighedsfakultetet, the leading educational center of the (Lutheran) Church of Norway, to which ...