May fathers no longer give their daughters in marriage?

[walter]

A priest in our diocese told a young couple looking to get married that it is no longer permissible to have the father of the bride to be to walk down the Isle and give his daughter away as if she were a piece of chattel. He said that it would soon become Catholic doctrine.
Is this true?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear Walter,

That may be that priest’s opinion, but it does not reflect anything other than that opinion. The Church has no official directive on the matter. Incidentally, the father walking his daughter down the isle is a cultural thing. It is not a part of the liturgy. Theologically, it is the bride and groom who do the real giving at the wedding.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.