Madam, - I refer to an article in the Irish Times of December 11th, in which I was reported as having said that the Catholic Church does not recognise the validity of register office marriages. I did not at any stage say this, either to your correspondent, or in my earlier article in the Alive paper.
In the Alive paper I said that "the marriage of a baptised Catholic in a register office is not valid in Church law." When asked for clarification by your correspondent, I explained that the Catholic Church recognises civil marriages as having validity in civil law, and also recognises the obligations in justice which follow from such a commitment, irrespective of the religious affiliation of the parties. I also pointed out that, when Catholics marry in the Church, a civil marriage is contracted in the same ceremony.
The correction which appeared in The Irish Times on Thursday 16th, while welcome, does not really resolve the issue. The Church's position is that, for Christians, marriage has a religious significance which is not opposed to, but which transcends, what is expressed in civil law. - Yours, etc.,
Fr KEVIN DORAN, Clontarf, Dublin 3.