Does the Catholic Church perform non-civil marriages in the Dominican Republic?
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In 2013, as many as 200,000 people born in the Dominican Republic were stripped of their citizenship, due to their Haitian ancestry. Most of these people were thus rendered "stateless," making government courts unavailable to them. Furthermore, many are destitute and find it virtually impossible to get proper legal identification, which often requires a trip to Haiti and high legal expenses. (For more on the situation, see this [30-minute documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAqGuj8AT1U) or its [2-minute trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDCidZGov1M))
From a religious perspective, one of the biggest challenges these people face is that they cannot be legally married – civil marriage is not available to them unless they have proper identification. In at least some Protestant denominations, such people who faithfully live together and have children are thus considered to be committing adultery, and are not given the opportunity to have a "church wedding" to change this status.
I'd like to know how the Catholic Church handles this situation. Put simply: **does the Catholic Church offer "religious-only" (non-civil) weddings in the DR to those who cannot obtain a civil marriage?** If so, are these weddings considered sufficient by the Catholic Church to comply with biblical prohibitions of adultery and fornication?
Asked by Nathaniel is protesting
(42928 rep)
May 23, 2017, 12:39 PM
Last activity: May 23, 2017, 07:31 PM
Last activity: May 23, 2017, 07:31 PM