Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin
“At the moment on behalf of the State, the priest acts as the solemniser of the marriage between a woman and a man. Obviously if the definition of marriage changes then this role will change.”
Martin Long, director of the Catholic Communications Agency
Bishops’ threat over non-signing of civil wedding forms (Irish Times)
(Photocall Ireland)
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Who, apart from rightwing nutjobs, gets married by a priest? Those days are gone.
Most do it out of a social vanity and the ones who ‘know’ the priest are the most vain of all.
None of them ever go to mass and all have been having sex since 16. Hypocrites all.
Generalisations all.
Everybody loves generalisations…
This role should be taken off them as it is a civil legal function not one for a fairy godfather (see what I did there?)
In a time where Ireland is the exception in Europe to have Church and Civil marriage as a “one stop shop” the Irish bishops have some neck to threaten the convenience to scare monger a No Vote. They should always remember their organisation should feel privileged to be considered in some way relevant in the States business. That the Irish Nation are willing to glance over institutionalised child abuse cover ups and the Magdalene Laundries is also a miracle in their favour.
jesus christ who dresses him up in the morning? a blind priest?
Defiant tricolour – check
Pink cap – check
Bandana in rear pocket – unknown
Does the Catholic Church marry divorced people and act as the solemniser of the marriage then?
Exactly. Does it ‘solemnize’ the marriage of Protestant, Islamic and agnostic couples?
Surely he meant “sodomize”.
Ah no, I’m sorry.
I don’t think divorced people can get married in a Catholic church…
Not sure about them other wack jobs either eg islam , prods etc.
Whatever. There is no way they will go through with this because WUSSES!!
I would have said “because money”…
+ a few hundred quid (cash) to the priest and a tenner for the alter boys.
We made our tips selling condoms to the best man in my day.
We… being the altar boys…. forgot that bit in me tale.
So they want to take their ball and go home? Fine. They can look after the ritual and the State can look after the legality, as should happen in a secular society.
Exactly. I would so love it if Ireland basically called their bluff on this.
I don’t think they’ll have to. The RCC won’t pursue this, in my opinion, even if there’s a yes vote.
They are making themselves like even bigger babies than they really are
To be fair, I think the newspaper just wanted to re-run the story. I don’t think there’s anything new here (could be wrong).
Says its been re-affirmed. So they said it, everyone laughed, and then they said it again. That’s almost worse.
+1
+1 , about bloody time, too
Heard he came out with that stance over the weekend.
Sounds to me, that it’s just a sly way of prompting people to vote ‘no’ in the MarRef. As this will upset the die-hards who see their entire marriage celebration only taking place in a church.
No. The stance was flagged back in 2013 when the RCC made a submission to the Constitutional Convention. It didn’t just emerge over the weekend. Seems like the newspaper just asked: “is this still the case?” and were told “yeah”.
Fair enough, thanks for the correction.
Still irks me.
How many people do it simply because they get nice pictures?
That too
That or to please one of the older people in the family.
If old people love church weddings so much, they can get married there. Its nothing to do with them.
Percentage of weddings that took place in a Catholic church in Ireland in 1994 92%
Percentage of weddings that took place in a Catholic church in Ireland in 2014 59%
Anyone want to predict what sort of percentage it will be in 2034 ?
…unfortunately, this is just toys out of the pram stuff…. but if it was implemented it would represent one of the biggest steps in the separation of church and state ever taken…this must be the first time I’ve agreed with a bishop…bring it on!
There are quite a number within the church, and not just woolly liberals like the ACP, who believe the church should step right out of the civil marriage aspect. Leave everyone do that at their local HSE office. It’s appealing on a number of levels.
They haven’t thought this through. If they go ahead with it, people are still going to want to get married. Those couples (those who have any interest in a Catholic ceremony in the first place – the rest don’t care anyway) will then have 2 choices: either get married in a Church and arrange to have a legal signing elsewhere on that or some other date, or skip the Church cos now it’s not very convenient, and have an entirely secular wedding. Most (due to family pressures, the preference for Church buildings etc) will do the former, but there will be a rise in secular weddings if only as a result of people not being arsed to do it twice, basically. None of this will do the Church any good at all. And I very much doubt if the threat of this will make anyone vote ‘no’ in May. It just makes them look whiny and entitled. Which they are.
It’s the whiny entitles who vote though!
Bunch of botty holes.
Why do so many seem to think that if we allow gay people to marry it’ll change straight people’s marriage? Never mind the shit the church has been coming out with.
I’m glad with each passing year their hold over Ireland reduces. The state should cut all ties with them. Marriages having to be registered in a registry office, secular schools etc.
+1
Bring it on
A nice woman from the HSE solomized my marriage.
I wish a nice woman would solomize me too. sad face.
with a barge pole?
This is standard practise in a lot of European countries. The couple go to the registry office to legally get married and a few days later, if they want, they have the church wedding.
+1. Pretty standard in other countries.
But sounds like they’re having a hissy fit.
About a third of marriages last year were not religious at all.
waaah waah waah. what’s the technical term? oh yeah: whiny piss-babies
I’ve already called them a wah-mbluance
lol it’s a variant of manflu
empty threats from a dying religion. there attitude post their employees raping children for decades hasn’t changed a bit!!
Are these old men really so arrogant as to think that this won’t harm the church? They really will be shooting themselves in the foot if they go through with this. Good to see Mary McAleese coming out in favour mind. Proof positive that not all people of faith are resistant to change and that some actively welcome it.
Mary has always been on the side of the gays, ever since her work to decriminalize homosexuality in the 90s (taking over from Mary R).
The Churches function in Registering what is a religious cermemory
where they a witness and bless the contract should be abolished and
the function transferred into the civil process like birth registration
“..the solemniser…” as if this institution is the only one that solemnises opposite-sex marriages on behalf of the state. Civil marriages and partnerships are solemnised by HSE staff only. Many other religious communities also have State solemnisers for religious marriages.
ANY organisation from a religious community may apply to the General Register Office to become a nominating body for its clergy to become State solemnisers of marriage. So, religious/traditional marriages would then have a legal status.
Even if a same-sex couple were of a particular religious tradition, which embraced same-sex union, they cannot have their civil partnership solemnised by clergy of their tradition who are registered as State solemnisers with the GRO. Only HSE staff can perform these. Civil partnerships are legal, but prohibited from having a religious form via traditions own registered clergy. Unlike straight couples who marry. Very peculiar.
What happens is that a bunch of the paedo shelterers get into a room with a bunch of the political bullmen and figure out how to keep her country for another lock of years. People whine about labour etc but this country would not I believe be within an asses roar of marriage equality referendum if the fine failures were let at it alone. Which I firmly believe is what we’re looking at next time out