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Couples to complete marriage courses before wedlock
Couples in Lancashire will have to do a course in marriage before they are granted a Catholic church wedding.
Bishop of Lancaster Patrick O'Donoghue has drawn up the Marriage Preparation Course as the final part of his controversial Fit for Mission? review of the Catholic church.
He has already announced the closures of churches in the county and attacked his fellow Bishops for failing to tackle issues such as homosexuality and same-sex adoption elsewhere in the review.
The Bishop plans two courses – Marriage Preparation, a basic curriculum for non-practising Catholics, and Marriage Preparation Plus for churchgoers.
Both courses include homework and are spread over six sessions.
Fr Robert Billing, the Bishop's secretary, said the courses had been requested by priests across the Diocese who were struggling to teach brides and grooms enough about marriage within the faith.
He said: "At the moment there is some kind of education, because couples who want a church wedding meet a priest a few times before a wedding.
"Often the priests are at a loss how to structure it, so this process formalises the whole thing."
In his introduction to the courses, due to be published shortly, the Bishop said he accepted that many who wanted a church wedding would be non-practising Catholics or have "no religious background".
The Bishop, who retires next month, said the basic course was aimed at "couples with little or no knowledge of the faith or experience of the church".
The Marriage Preparation Plus course assumes a "knowledge of the faith and a living relationship with Christ".
Fr Billing said priests would judge which course was best suited to each couple.
He said: "When I was at St Maria Goretti in Preston four years ago, the weddings I did were rarely with two practising Catholics.
"Often it was lapsed Catholics or people who had been to a Catholic school, so there was some contact but it was distant."
Fr Tom Singleton, of St Ignatius and English Martyrs churches in Preston, said the courses would help priests plan marriage preparations in a "more uniform way".
He said: "The important thing is that priests are able to help couples for the long term and prepare them for the challenges which married life brings to a relationship.
"It is about helping teach them about the church, and about how it can support them through their married lives."
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
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Temperature: -4 C to 2 C
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