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Dear Richard,
In the US, the Church requires that
the civil forms be complied with,
and in my state, Texas, forms must
be filled out at the time of the
ceremony. The state recognizes the
religious ceremony, but the paperwork
must be signed and witnessed. I doubt
if you could get a priest to do a
ceremony without the civil requirements
being met — although there
is some provision in Canon Law for
secret things, if there is a very
serious reason.
If the religiously
— not civilly married — people, should
that happen, live together and
present themselves as man and wife,
then I think they would at the least
be considered by the state to be
married in Common Law, with whatever
rights that entails.
Finally, I am sure that the state
would, in any dispute, recognize
a valid religious ceremony, unless
there is a civil marriage already,
by one of the partners that would
require a civil annulment or divorce
in order for there to be a valid
second civil marriage. The religious
marriage authorities might not recognize
the first civil marriage, and hence
not require a canonical annulment.
Mary Ann Parks
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