Catholic Justice of the Peace

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otm:
Are you trying to make a point, or are you just being obstinate?
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You said, in your first post:
Why not? People who have no religion at all are not bound by religious strictures, and those who have a Christian faith that does not recognize marriage as a sacrament have only the possible strictures of their Church to follow, which may not require that one be an ordained minister. How would your act be not premitted?
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If I may paraphrase you, “The morality of an act depends on the beliefs of the actor.” That makes morality subjective.
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otm:
I was asking the poster what rules were that he felt controlled his conduct. It has nothing to do with subjectivity; I am asking for information. Specifically, he seemd to be saying that the Church would not allow him to perfomr the ceremony. I know of no such rules. I was asking him what the rules were that he felt, interpreted, understood, or what ever terminology you want, controlled the situation such that in following such strictures, he would not be able to perform the marriage.
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Thanks for clarifying. Let us then stipulate that you are **not **proposing that if it’s okay with the persons being married, it’s okay with everyone.
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otm:
Actually, since you seem inclined to split hairs, a Catholic must adhere to the beliefs of his Church, not his beliefs.
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Not quite correct. A Catholic must believe what the Church believes. One who in his heart rejects the de fide teaching of the Church has excommunicated himself.
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otm:
Well, for starters, Canon Law only applies to Catholics. Baptists are not bound by Canon Law, and neither are those who believe in God but have no particular faith, nor those who belong to a non Christian faith, or are agnostic or atheist.
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Are we back to claiming right and wrong depends on the beliefs of the actors? That makes it subjective again.
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otm:
People have a legal right to be married, according to the laws of most countries; at least, I know of no country on the face of the earht that does not reccognize a marriage between a husband and wife, and that has nothing to do with Canon Law.
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People in many countries have a legal right to get an abortion – does that make it a morally acceptable act?
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otm:
If one is a Justice of the Peace and has jurisdictional authority to marry a man and a woman, then it would seem to be that the question is, is there any rule in the Catholic Church that would prohibit marrying a man and woman when the JP has no knowledge that they are bound by Canon Law?

I would not suggest that one simply appeal to the issue of conscience, as the Church insists that in forming our conscience, we must act to conform it to the Church’s teachings (which include the disciplinary laws). Appealing to the issue of conscience does not answer the question I am asking if, in fact, there are no strictures, no laws, in the Church whih would prohibit the JP from performing the ceremony.

I am not, by that, suggesting that the JP would be required to perform the ceremony (although there appears to be a move afoot in Canada to require them to perform a ceremony of a homosexual couple, based on a perceived unlawful discrimination based on sexual preference; but that is not germane to the discussion here). One may not like the couple, or may not like marriage, or may not like marriage ceremonies. But if one is going to say that their consicence would not allow it, then one needs at the same time to show that one has a correctly formed conscience according to the rules and teaching of the Church.

All of which brings us back full circle to the question I addressed to Brendan: why not?

And since you say that you would not, on what do you base that? Personal preference is fine, I have no problem with that.
From what I read of your posts, it seems to me that you feel that the Church says you can’t. However, the Church only requires Catholics to follow it’s laws concerning marriage ceremonies, and the Church does recognize natural marriages.
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Since the marriage would not be licit in the eyes of the Church, I would be materially aiding an immoral act.
 
Fred?:
By the way… forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=79832
Now there’s no CCL quotes or anything here, but I’m going to go on a hunch and say our CAF apologists know their stuff.
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In short, your mother-in-law can officiate at civil marriages, but only at those civil marriages that the Church would presume to be valid. If she has questions as to whether any particular marriage she is asked to perform will be presumed valid by the Church, she can contact her diocese’s marriage tribunal to ask.
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In other words, the official Church position is, “Be careful.”

Makes sense.
 
My grandfather is a federal judge (and devout Catholic) and has had this issue come up. I think he finally decided it would be OK for him to marry people who were of no religious faith since clearly a religious ceremony would have no meaning to them.
 
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