re when are two people married in god s eyes y in article apr geneva rutgers edu marka hcx ssd csd harris com mark ashley writes those with bibles on hand can give the exact chapter verse at the time jesus told peter that he was the rock he said whatever you hold true on earth is held true in heaven and whatever you don t hold true won t be true in heaven therefore with respect to marriage the ceremony has to be done by an rc priest no big parties required just the priest the couple and witnesses divorce is not allowed but anullments are granted upon approval by either the bishop or the pope not sure if the pope delegates this function maybe i m a little tired but i can t seem to follow the logic here if whatever is held true on earth is held true in heaven how is it that a priest rc only apparently is required in fact if i read the next verse correctly matthew i understand that for a marriage to take place only two are required to agree on earth touching one thing and it shall be done todd mark ashley disclaimer my opinions not harris marka gcx ssd csd harris com the lost los angelino unfortunately i haven t been able to find any completely precise statements about what is needed as usual the current edition of the catholic encyclopedia is frustratingly vague i do know that the priest is viewed as a witness and thus in some sense would not be required however part of the purpose of formal marriage is to avoid any ambiguity about who has and has not taken on the commitment the community provides support to marriage and in cases of problems are involved in helping to make sure that the people carry out as much of their commitment as possible thus marriage must be a public commitment the presence of a priest is required for a regular marriage where i m not clear is exactly where the boundaries are in exceptional cases valid but irregular ne temere says that no marriage involving a catholic is valid without a priest according to the oxford dictionary of the church and they imply that the new canon law retains this but i d rather see a more recent and authoritative source note that while a catholic priest is required for catholics the catholic church does recognize marriage between baptized non catholics as valid without a priest clh
