"WHEN A MARRIAGE IS NOT A MARRIAGE."

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 60, 29 February 1908, Page 5

"WHEN A MARRIAGE IS NOT A MARRIAGE."

To the Editor. Mr,—While reading inv paper i],i, •"..ruing 1 noticed a paragraph entitled " lien a .Marriage is not a Marriage"an I upon reading it, if I |,ad not"no' tn .'d (lie date of the paper, and realised tint I am living in the 20th century, ' should have thought 1 was livin« j n tiw darkest period of the history of" Kuii>p»>. called the Middle Ages.' It iinc with wonder to limMhat in tli - coniury such utterance* can lull) ulc by any authority in the so-calbd Catholic Church, or Such independenee placed upon tin* superstitions of the people. TJie pronouncement <»f the re-pr.-sentlive of the Koman Catholic C'iiiirch in Xew Zealand is that "after Easter all marriages (of the member* ot that Church> it) Protestant Church 's and registry oflices will be not only -inT nl, but invalid: and persons who contract them will have "one through an empty ceremony, and will bo JIo more man and witV than I hey wer- 1 Ihmoi'o, etc. Willi regard to marriages in registry ollices I have only this"i.o say: I hero is no religious ceremony connected with them, and thev shouU on that account be abhorred' bv all Christian people: hut still they arc perfectly valid in the >iglit of the law of the land, and people married in th'» manner are certainly man and wil\\ whatever be their religions belief. But with regard to the marriages in the dil- 1 ferent Protestant Churches there is a. i religion* ceremony; for after the deliv- ' cry to the Minister of the oilicial ccr- ! tilicate, wiiich is the legal authority to j marry, the marriage properly takes j place; hands arc joined, solemn prayer is offered up, and every meaiw taken to make the ceremony dignilied and real. Xow what is the true meaning of this pornoimeemeiit of the Uonian Catholic Church? It is simply this: That after thus Solemn union of heart and hand, and prayers for Cod's blessing. the people so united after E\*t<'r (why not before, if it is sinful and invalid). are living in adultery, and children i>orn to them will be illegiti- ; mate. This is the only reasonable : m* ailing of this extraordinary paragraph: and it is surprising if there is one Roman Catholic in the Dominion who can really believe Mich a degrading falsehood. Is it too late to hope that nun and women in these days, living under the Union -Tack, will not be treated a> if they were as ignorant a-, people of the !)th and 10th centuries? And certainly, after this gratuitous in»u!l to the various Christian bodies, tlu» lloiuan Catholics will hardly expect any from thorn at their bazaars and entertainments; for if they have ;iu. self-respect they will allow this unCatholic bodv to depend entirely upon its own member* for Mipport.- 1 am. etc.. CATIIOUC. \ew Plymouth. 2.V2/OS.