Replies

No, no, and no - unless any of the marriages professed to be made under the Catholic purview.

Yes, I would, because Catholic doctrine doesn't matter a whit to non-Catholics, Jews, or Buddhists.

And yes, to me (and to my church) legitimacy is a function of church status. (Legal status has nothing to do with church matters.) That's why we have weddings, and concepts like "fornication."

74 posted on 10/25/2004 10:37:57 AM PDT by Xenalyte (And then I says, "Tell me I'm wrong!" and he says, "I can't, baby, 'cause you're NOT!")

Dear Xenalyte,

So, two folks who get married by the Justice of the Peace aren't married?

Then, are their children also illegitimate?

"Legal status has nothing to do with church matters."

That's the point - there is a CHURCH status involved in marriage, but also a LEGAL status. LEGALLY, two atheists married before the JP are legally married, their children are legitimate. The church perspective has no bearing on the legal perspective.

Whether the marriage exists in the eyes of God, or the Church, or Whomever, a legal marriage, even after divorce, existed in the eyes of the law. And that's what legitimacy is about.

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