Marriage at St Mary Moorfields

Introduction

The Parish of St Mary Moorfields covers most of the City of London, and obviously has pastoral care for those who live within the City boundary. However, owing to the nature of the City of London, the Parish also serves those who work within the Square Mile, most of whom are dispersed over at least six Dioceses. A further peculiarity is that many city workers were neither born in London, nor even in Great Britain. This shows the marvellous universality of the Church but can cause some difficulty when coming to prepare for marriage. Many couples quite rightly wish to be married either in their hometown or in their own country but would find it impossible to be prepared to receive the sacrament of marriage at their home Parish. The Parish of St Mary Moorfields is able to help such couples in these situations with both the necessary paperwork and with the more important spiritual preparation.

If you would like further information on how to proceed please read on:

1. Human and Spiritual Preparation. The parish holds three separate Marriage Days each 'academic year' to which all couples who wish either to be married here or be prepared from St Mary Moorfields must attend. The day lasts from 10.00am to 4.00pm and involves talks on the human and spiritual sides of marriage from the Parish Priest and a number of lay people, a lay theologian, a young couple, and a Catholic medical professional.

The forthcoming dates are Saturday 3rd November 2007, Saturday 26th January, and Saturday June 7th 2008. Each course will cost £30 for the couple, to include lunch, and will last from 10.00am to 4.00pm. If you wish to participate in these one day courses, please contact Fr Peter Newby.

Confirmation. Every Catholic who wishes to be married anywhere other than Great Britain, must be confirmed. The parish has developed a special course for those who wished to be confirmed prior to their marriage. the course will last twelve weeks, beginning on Monday 1st October and finishing with Confirmation on Sunday 17th February 2008. There will be a second course beginning in early March and finishing in late June.

2. Preparation of Marriage papers. This is a necessary part to ensure that both parties are 'free' to marry their spouse. For those marriages not taking place here at St Mary Moorfields all the completed papers are sent to the Diocesan Chancellor who then sends them to the relevant Chancellor across the globe. The relevant Chancellor will then forward the papers to the appropriate Parish Priest. The cost of the paperwork will be £30, payable either in cash or with a cheque payable to WRCDT.

The completed documents are sent to the Chancellor, who very efficiently sends them to the respective country six weeks prior to the marriage. Please note that many foreign chanceries and wedding planners put undue stress on yourselves about the paperwork. Please reassure them that the papers will arrive. It is possible to have the papers sent back here for you to send them yourselves abroad. They then become your responsibility alone once they have been officially handed over with a signed document.

Finally please note that there will always be difficulties in marrying somewhere where neither party has any connection. Many tour operators offer foreign wedding packages and superficially these look to have many advantages to do with cost. However all they want is your money and have no concern about your spiritual welfare, nor the quality of the service in the local Church. Often a English speaking priest is dragged in, the vows bear little resemblance to those in this country. Such activities are frowned upon by the local Bishops, something most certainly in Croatia. Consequently they make heavy demands over paperwork on the priest who has prepared them in this country. This parish is unable to arrange such weddings. You would be welcome to come to the marriage preparation course but unless you live in the parishes of St Mary Moorfields or St Joseph’s, this parish will unfortunately be unable to complete the paperwork.

The documents required are as follows:

a) From the Catholic party/parties

• Baptism Certificate (This is obtained from the Parish in which you were baptised)
• Letter/s of Freedom from all the Parishes you have lived in since aged 16, so normally home (up to and including University years), and previous flats/houses. For many people this can be an onerous task, which can be substituted by signing a 'Statutory Declaration of Freedom' in front of a Commissioner of Oaths. Most solicitors are such.
• Permission from your residential Parish Priest (only applicable for marriages taking place in Great Britain) This may be obtained easily by contacting your home Parish Priest in England.

b) From other Christian denominations

• Baptism Certificate (the one given at the time of your baptism is sufficient. It will be photocopied and the original returned to you)
• Letter from Parents saying that you have not been married, or Statutory Declaration (better for marriages taking place abroad)

c) Non Baptised party

These weddings require either a Letter from Parents or Statutory Declaration.

Marriage in a non-Catholic Church

The Church assumes that her members will avail themselves of Catholic sacraments, and so marry in the Catholic Church, but does understand that sometimes this may be impossible. A valid marriage may be contracted in the Anglican Church, using the Anglican form of service, in special circumstances such as the Church being the regular place of worship of the Anglican party. For the marriage to be recognised by the Catholic Church the relevant paperwork and preparation, as described above, would still have to take place.

Marriage Ceremony at St Mary Moorfields

The same 'rules' apply for marriage at St Mary's as for those preparing for marriage. The Church serves the City community, both residential and working, and for those who make this their regular place for Sunday Mass. This historic Church with its classical architecture makes an ideal wedding setting, holding up to 200 guests, but looks well-attended with 50. Marriages normally take place on Saturday in the afternoon.

The form of the marriage rite and the choice of readings are available, as an email attachment, on request. Details about registrars, organists, flowers etc are also available from the Parish Priest, Fr. Peter Newby.

The Church also has a relationship with 'Club Quarters', a quite and pleasant Business hotel on 7 Gracechurch Street (Tel 020 7666 4663) who can offer accommodation at very reasonable prices over the weekend for your wedding guests.

For details on marriage preparation at other Catholic churches in London please click here.