Zagreb, June 9, 1999 (IKA) – The members of the Croatian Conference of Bishops sent the faithful in Croatia a letter about how church weddings will be performed as of July 1, 1999, in accordance with the thirteenth contract between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia on legal issues and Articles 6 and 29, Paragraph 4, of the Family Law passed by the Croatian Parliament on December 30, 1998. A clergyman of a religious community will be able to preside at a wedding that will be legally recognized by the civil authorities. The letter, dated June 4, 1999, was signed by all the active archbishops and bishops in the Republic of Croatia, and will be published in its entirety in the June 13 issue of the weekly Catholic newspaper Glas Koncila.
In the letter, the faithful are reminded of the Church doctrine on the sacrament of marriage, based upon the Holy Scripture and tradition, and of the Church laws according to which Christians “for a valid marriage are required in normal circumstances to recite their marriage vows according to the Church procedure, i.e. in the presence of an authorized Church official and two witnesses” and thus “marriage vows recited by a Christian before a civil official only, a so-called civil wedding ceremony, are not legally valid before God and the Church.” In other words, a Church wedding will be recognized by the civil authorities but the reverse will not be true, i.e. a civil wedding will not be recognized by the Church, nor will a civil divorce “have any validity in the area of Church law,” because “a valid Church marriage remains permanently indissoluble.” The letter also contains specific directives for a Church wedding ceremony that will be recognized by the civil authorities. Prior to the Church ceremony, a couple is required to obtain a certificate from the state registrar confirming that the civil prerequisites for marriage have been met, and take this certificate to the authorized Church official. After the wedding ceremony has been performed, the Church official is required to return the certificate to the registrar who issued it, who will then record the marriage in the marriage registry. In their letter, the bishops express their joy concerning the new legal regulations connected with weddings, “not only because they simplify the marriage process for the religious Christian …, but because these regulations are in accordance with the Church position concerning the sanctity of the marriage vows. The marriage vows, which are truly holy for the Christian, should be made only once, and this within the circle of the Church community, before a representative of the Church,” states the letter. The importance of serious preparation for marriage is also emphasized, and all who are preparing for marriage are required to undergo special prenuptial instruction provided in all the Croatian dioceses.