By Tony O’Riley-
The catholic church is facing criticism of double standards after marrying Boris Johnson tand Carrie Symonds over the weekend.
Johnson married Carrie Symonds at the cathedral in a ceremony with 30 friends and family on Saturday, in strict secrecy, conducted by Father Daniel Humphreys, who baptised their son Wilfred last year. It was a happy day for the prime minister, but his decision to marry in the Catholic Church has sparked debate.
Johnson is known to have baptised into Catholicism but renounced it for Anglicanism during his Eton schooldays, according to biographers.
Catholic law does not recognise divorce, and does not permit the remarriage of those whose former spouse, or spouses, are still alive. Johnson was divorced from his first wife, Allegra Mostyn-Owen, in 1993, and finalised his divorce from his second wife, Marina Wheeler, in November last year.
However, the Catholic Church which has long been mired in controversies over its past history of child abuse, has been found contradicting its laws, putting it in a difficult position for future marriages.
Father Mark Drew, an assistant priest in Warrington, tweeted in response to the news: “Can anyone explain to me how ‘Boris’ Johnson, who left the Catholic church while at Eaton [sic] and is twice divorced, can be married at Westminster Cathedral, while I have to tell practising Catholics in good faith who want a second marriage in Church that it’s not possible?”
The rector of St Paul’s in Deptford, Father Paul Butler, tweeted: “Always one canon law for the rich and one for the poor.”
Christopher Lamb, Rome correspondent for the Catholic magazine the Tablet, said many might conclude that the rules do not apply to the prime minister. “There will be a feeling that, why are some people who are divorced allowed to be married in the church and others not?” he told BBC Radio 5 live.
“And I think that’s where the church can look at its current rules and see how it can become more welcoming. It has been welcoming to Boris Johnson, why not to others?”
Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, said the prime minister’s two previous marriages were unlikely to have been recognised in Catholic law, as his former spouses were not Catholic, nor were the weddings Catholic ceremonies. Therefore, a “simple administrative process” was likely to have been used to declare the previous marriages invalid.
He wrote on Twitter: “Boris’s two previous marriages (probably) lacked canonical form, that is, are not recognised in Catholic law. So he (probably) didn’t need an annulment. When the canonical form of marriage has not been observed and the marriage was not later validated in the Church, a simple administrative process is used to declare such marriages invalid in church.”
The statement is nonsensical because marriage is marriage, once recognised by law. Catholic law cannot escape the reality of marriage as a union between two people in the presence of witnesses, and who subsequently live together as one. The failure to recognise a marriage outside the Catholic Church which is recognised by law is utter ignorance.
In another statement of contradiction for the Catholic Church which does not permit same sex marriage, Father James Martin, editor-at-large of the Jesuit magazine America, tweeted: “Mr and Mrs Johnson were married within the rules of the Catholic church. And I wish them well. I also wish that the same mercy and compassion that was offered to them, recognising their complex lives, could also be extended to same-sex couples who are lifelong Catholics.”
The Catholic Church which is now facing confusion in its practices, will now need to allow future couples who have been divorced to get married, as it struggles to explain its most open level of hypocrisy in recent times.
Asked whether Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the archbishop of Westminster, approved the marriage, a spokesperson said the cardinal’s approval was not required as the wedding “proceeded according to the norms of the Church without exception”.
“The bride and groom are both parishioners of the Westminster Cathedral parish and baptised Catholic,” a statement on behalf of the diocese of Westminster read. “All necessary steps were taken, in both church and civil law, and all formalities completed before the wedding. We wish them every happiness.”
The only steps taken were those necessary to bend the Catholic rules to allow Boris Johnson marry Carrie Symonds.
Johnson himself has no reason to be concerned about the politics or hypocrisy surrounding marriage in Catholic law. After all, he dumped the faith in his days at Eton. All the prime minister wanted was to get married and have marriage to be recognised in la happily achieved that.
The wedding was celebrated with a small bash at No10 afterwards with music provided by a folk band called The Bow Fiddlies who reportedly played covers of Mumford & Sons songs, followed by a dance around the firepit at 1am.
The newly weds also danced to American Pie by Don McLean but it’s not known if that was their first song choice.
A bigger celebration for the couple is set for next year.