MARRIAGE LAWS

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 1, 27 September 1920, Page 6

MARRIAGE LAWS

ROMAN CATHOLIC POSITION PRONOUNCEMENT BY ARCHBISHOP O'SIIEA Addressing the Dominion Executive of the Catholic Federation on Saturday morning Archbishop O'Shea referred further to tho Marriage Amendment Bill. Ho said;—

"As you have referred to the Marriage Bill and its obnoxious clause, and have assured . me of your loyal support in any action we, the Bishops, may take to resist it, should it become law, I wish merely to say that I have nothing to add to or take away from what I said Kst Sunday week. If by that clause we • foi bidden to teach and enforce our

.../ftiidie concerning marriage, then ire v. ill most certainly disobey, and take tho consequences. This is no idle boast, for we mean it. And lam glad to see that tho Anglican Bishop of Dunedin and his Archdeacon have taken the same stand, and in- their utterances on last Sunday have stated that they, too, are prepared to go to prison rather than obey such a law. Our enemies are accusing us of breaking up happy homes by our marriuge laws, of driving people apart, and so on. _ This is the usual old lie, When Catholics contract a civil marriage, and then wish to be allowed- to go to tho Saoraments, wo do not ask them to separate, but wo do all in our power, as taotfully as possible, to get them to complete their marriages Sacramentally, and so make them true marriages before God. We even go further than any other denomination in our efforts to make such marriages absolutely binding before God, because in cose tho Protestant party refuses to be married before the Church and the Catholic' party still wishes u> 6 o to the Sacraments, we issue a validating document called a 'canatio • in radice,' which makes the marriage in question a Rood and valid one Sacramentally or before God and tho Church from the very instant it was entered upon legally or civilly. So you see that all the rhetorio about breoking up homes, causing pain and distress to the Protestant party and the need of protecting the children is rust simply rubbish. Of course, in case of divorced persons who remarry civilly, ive can do nothing. We do not admit divorce, and so can not revalidate the ci'dl marriages of divorced persons as long as the former partner lives. But this has nothing whatever to do with the No Temere decree.

' Catholics do not say that pople who infract civil marriage are not legally married. It would be absurd of us to say this, and wo are not exactly fools, But we do say that such persons are not truly and sufficiently married before God, and wo will continue to say this, no matter what clauses may be added to (ha Marriage Bill. The present law of defamation protects people from having the legality of their civil marriages impugned, and there is no need ior any further protection, much less for tho foolish clause passed by the Legislature Council. And to mako the matter still more ludicrous, I see that one of the 'Lords/ wishing to remove all ambiguity from the clause, as already passed, has obtained leave to introduce a plain, uncompromising, persecuting amendment, Really, ho wants tho Council to make of itself a greater laughing-stock than it

has done. "Now, how can we explain this wave of sectarianism that is sweeping over NewZealand and other places at the present limo? Thero are no more bigots or Orangemen in New Zealand than there were in 1911, when the war broke out. In fact, there are fewer, because tho young men who fought side by side with Catholics in the trenches and on tho

battlefields, had all this nonsense knocked out of them. And Catholics havo done nothing since to justify the attacks that are being made on them. What, then, is the reason of it nil? Well, it is simply this: 'Big Money' feared that as 6oon as the war ended its -privileges and its elaborate profiteering schemes would be cut short by the people, 60 it set to work to devise a good means of dividing the people and of distracting them from the important things—from remedying the Teal evils that exist, and that will continuo to exist wljile it remains in power. It concluded that no better means could be found to serve its purpose than to encourage sectarianism, and sot the people fighting amongst them T selves. And so 'Big Money' subscribed thousands of pounds lo subsidise an Irwh secret society and hire a fitting tool to spread hatred and sectarian bitterness amongst the people, and thus allow it to rulo a little longer and gather in the profits a while more. . . . And the Oovornment has shown itself all through a willing tool, and through one of its representatives has aided and abetted all tins nonsenso. Do you think for a moment that any Government would allow itself to be dragged at the heels of such sectarians if it did not help the Government and its masters to divert publio attention from its own shortcoming and the more pressing needs ot the country? Now, hero you have the real reason for all this sectarianism, alio biKots are not more numerous, but tlicj are better paid to make a noise. Well, they may keep up the noise for a■ whilo, but in the end the campaign will be n failure.

VIEWS OF METHODIST CHURCH. The Marriage Amendment Bill was disoussed at a meeting of the New Zealand Methodist Church Temperance and Public Morals Committee, held in Wellington, when the Mowing motions were unanimously carried: "Tins committee expresses pleasure at the determination of the legislative Council to introduce legislation that will prevent abuses occasioned by the operation ot l he No Temero decree in reference to mixed marriages." "While emphatically insisting that every Church must have the right to teach its own particular doctrines in relation to marnngo as a spiritual relationship, this committee urges upon the Government tho necessity for providing legislation which shall prevent tho members of ministers of nnv Church charging people with being illegally and not truly married and to be living in sin. because not married according to the- laws of that particular Church." "This committee also urges upon members of Parliament to pa«a info law Mich legislation as shrill conserve the Tights end liberties of tac various churches in tho Dominion.

WEST COAST CATHOLICS PROTEST. Bv Tele?""" 1 '- 1 '' - '"' 5 »"«" 1 "* I '"' Greymouth, September 21. Tho following resolutions wore carried unanimously at a mass meeting of AY est Coast Catholics, hold at Greymouth Inst night: "(1) This meeting of the Catholio clevv and lnitv of Greymouth and surrounding districts protests against .the proposed amendment of the marnaga laws of New Zealand as being an unjust interference with freedom of conscience and a revival of the penal laws against n proposition of the Catholic faith. (2) All the laymen present are in perfect agreement with the attitude taken up bv Archbishop O'Shea. Acting-Metro-politan, and Dr. Brodie, Bishop of the diocese, and are prepared to support loyally the Catholic hierarchy and clergy in resisting tho proposed unjust laws.'