Only 40 Catholic priests can solemnize marriages - bishop

The Philippines only has 40 Catholic priests authorized to solemnize marriages of close to 600,000 yearly. Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said on Tuesday that only 40 priests were certified to solemnize weddings. He said the number of priest authorized to formalize marriages dwindled after the National Statistics Office (NSO) required them to undergo training before conducting marital ceremonies. "Sila po muna ang nagkakasal sa mga parokya na ‘yong pari ay walang authorization. At kung talagang kailangan pa ay hihingi kami ng tulong sa ibang diocese na may authorization pa na kami ay tulungan (The 40 priests are the only ones authorized to solemnize marriages. And if there is shortage, we will ask help from other dioceses)," he said in an interview with Radio Veritas. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is now moving to stop the memorandum issued by the NSO, according to Cruz. The archbishop said he already wrote to Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita for the cancellation of the order from the NSO. He said that even lawyer Romeo Macalintal thought that the memo was “illegal, impractical and discriminatory." The NSO is requiring all bishops, heads, priests, rabbis, and imams of religious ministers to obtain a certificate of registration of authority to solemnize marriage, which is valid for three consecutive years. Those who apply for the said certificate will have to pay the following: P 375 for the registration and issuance of authority to solemnize marriage for new application; P150 for renewal of application; P75 for certified transcript from the register of solemnizing officers; and P75 for the duplicate or subsequent copy of the certificate of authority to solemnize marriage. Cruz opposed the requirements and claimed that the NSO was doing something beyond its jurisdiction. "Itong NSO ay nangahas na maging legislative body. Iyan po ay hindi aking opinyon, opinyon po yan ng isang magiting na abogado. Its illegal pagkat isang executive branch ang NSO na nagpapanggap na maging legislative linking authority (The NSO is playing the role of a legislative body. That is not just my opinion, but the opinion of a top lawyer. It is illegal because the NSO is part of the executive branch, acting as it is a legislative body)," he said. Based on the NSO's Vital Statistics Division, there were a total of 593,553 marriages in the Philippines in 2003. The highest were in the National Capital Region with 100,665 marriages; Calabarzon with 78,466, Central Luzon with 75,738; Western Visayas with 43,122; and Central Visayas with 43,060. - AMITA LEGASPI, GMANews.TV