Asia/Singapore - Catholic Marriage is Celebrated Only "in Person" and Not Through Online Platforms, in Times of Pandemic

Agenzia Fides ^ | 5/11/20

[marshmallow]

Singapore (Agenzia Fides) - The Archdiocese of Singapore has refused the possibility of celebrating and therefore validating a marriage by connecting to an online platform. The solution, in times of Covid-19, is provided for by the new law entitled "Temporary measures for the celebration and registration of marriages", approved in Parliament on May 5, for civil weddings.

According to the law, the celebration of civil marriages, during the Covid-9 pandemic, can take place virtually via a live video connection of the spouses, civil officers and witnesses. The procedure also applies to official wedding registrations, in a civil venue. The new law should enter into force as early as the second half of May, as announced by the Ministry of social and family development.

In light of the new law, the archdiocese of Singapore has expressed its position for the celebration of the rite of religious marriage. The note of the archdiocese, sent to Fides, underlines "the importance of the physical interaction of the people who celebrated the sacrament of marriage and other sacraments". Quoting Pope Francis, in his homily on April 17, 2020, recalls that "the Church, the Sacraments, the People of God are concrete".

As such, while the Church appreciates the efforts by the authorities in making marriage more accessible to couples in this difficult time, the Catholic Church in Singapore will not be able to solemnise marriages via video link, the statement pointed out.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Good for the Singaporean bishops; I see this as completely in Line with sacred tradition and the constitutent elements of the Holy Sacraments. All the Sacraments are based n the Incarnation. They involve physical things and the actual bodily presence of people. That's what makes them not just notional or virtual, but Sacramental.

Looks like Pope Francis is in agreement too, which is a little startling

[MurphsLaw]

Good post...... Glad to see the Church in other parts of the world are not so be holding to their government overlords......

[scouter]

Except that the archbishop is wrong. Canon law explicitly allows for valid sacramental marriage where one of the partners is not physically present and is represented by a proxy.

[scouter]

See canons 1104 and 1105.

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/_P3Z.HTM

[Tuketu]

I’m 80, so I follow the 6 foot guidelines.