Do the new rules in Ireland re marriage solemnisers mean that ministers of religion can also solemnise civil marriages?
Can a Catholic priest solemnise the marriage of a couple who do not wish for a sacramental marriage but do wish to undergo a civil marriage?
If not, why not? The new regulations seem to allow for such an anomaly.
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8 comments:
Why would such a situation be an "anomaly"?
In the old civil dispensation, could an invalid Catholic Church marriage be valid in civil law? Obviously it could, since Church annulments were given to those who could not have their civil marriages annulled. A carelessly arranged Church wedding could easily have led to that.
Of course it will happen Michael, just as soon as the Church allow civil servants to officiate at their ceremonies!
Fergal
It will happen before that! Be assured.
Feargal/Fergal,
Surely marriages are primarily the function of the State.
If people wish to marry sacramentally then they may/can have a church service as well.
This was the perfect opportunity for the church to remove itself as a functionary of the State.
We live in a secular State, so why should the church be involved in State functions?
From what I understand the variuos Churches simply send the names of their officials to the registrar and are listed then as 'solemnisers' within that group. CofI clergy cn officate at CofI venues, Catholics at Catholic ones, registrars in registry offices etc.
Why would you advocate in one comment that it was time for the Churches to desist from acting as functionaries of the State yet wonder in another part why clergy are not allowed to officiate at State (registry office) weddings?
Also, if a Catholic wishes to marry why should the catholic church ceremony not suffice? I would see it that the state recognises and records religious marriages as valid marriages and gives them legal respect. The State does not recognoise ecclesiastic anulments and divorces and only enforces civil divorces processed through the courts. Just because they do things differently on the continent it doesn't mean that the double wedding is a good idea. If you want to marry somebody surely you only want to do it once? The French and others' traditions of two ceremonies belittles the actual event that the two parties are celebrating.
What might prove interesting is whether the State will recognise the same-sex 'marriages' performed by (I think) the Unitarian Church and other religious or philosophical disciplines?
Again, Feargal, thank you for your informative comment.
The original comment arose as a result of a Catholic priest being asked to officiate at the wedding of two people who have received a divorce in the State.
If the priest is a recognised solemniser may he officiate at a wedding that is not recognised by the church?
You may have the answer.
The is some confusion here. There are two contracts in reality, one civil, one sacred. It is much better to keep them distinct. The problems arise over Church duplicity here: the Church will allow a marriage in Church for somebody who has an annullment (without necessarily being divorced) and will then NOT register that civil marriage. The same Church will not allow the marriage of those who are divorced if there has been a previous valid sacramental marriage where the other spouse is still alive.
In essence the Church itself sees the difference between the two and it would be much better to have them as entirely separate functions.
Yes, of course that is what the church should do. But that would mean relinquishing some power and control
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