GUILHERME ALMEIDA
The office of the Salcete Civil Registrar is in the eye of a storm after it reportedly departed from the normal practice of registration of Canonical marriages. Two Catholic couples had to settle for a civil marriage, against their wish, for having solemnised their marriage in Churches outside Salcete, triggering a row of sorts.
Canonical marriages in Goa are governed by the Canon Law – an agreement between the government and the Church. But, the office of the Salcete Civil Sub Registrar is believed to have departed from the established practice when it asked the parties to register the marriage afresh on grounds that the two marriages were solemnised in churches outside Salcete.
Incumbent Salcete Civil cum Sub Registrar Suraj Vernekar confirmed to Herald that the office records show that two marriages were not registered as canonical marriages, but as civil marriages by the outgoing Civil Registrar.
When asked whether his office can now effect the necessary changes in the two marriage registrations, Vernekar said his office will forward the matter to the State Registrar in order to seek legal opinion on the two marriages. Vernekar, however, asserted that celebrating one’s marriage in a church outside Salcete jurisdiction is no bar for registration of a canonical marriage.
Herald understands that that District Registrar Ramdas Pednekar had pulled up the Civil Registrar office for not registering the canonical marriages. “Law does not bar canonical marriages even if the couple prefers to celebrate the marriage in a church anywhere in Goa,” Pednekar said.
A former retired Civil Registrar, Charlie De Sa said under canonical marriages, the bride and the bridegroom are first required to file a marriage declaration before the taluka Civil Registrar. “The procedure mandates the concerned Civil Registrar to issue the certificate to the priest to celebrate the marriage after the lapse of prescribed notice period. The choice of the Church where the bride and the bridegroom want to solemnise the marriage lies with the couple, irrespective of their place of residence. After the celebration of marriage in the respective church, the parish priest of that church sends the duplicate marriage registrar to the concerned Civil Registrar where the declaration was given in order to register in his books after verifying the contents,” he said. He added that if the Civil Registrar has asked the two couples to register a civil marriage after the celebration in the church, it would amount to a second marriage.
District Registrar P S Borco also confirmed the development and has called for a detailed report from the Salcete Civil Registrar. “I have asked the Civil Registrar to send me a report of the two cases. Certainly, my office will move the law department to seek opinion on these two cases,” Borco said, while saying that his office will issue a memo to the outgoing Civil Registrar to give detailed explanation on the episode.
