The Court Rules the Marriage Null for the Same Reason [1]
The Court Rules the Marriage Null for the Same Reason [1]
The Clerical Council Tries a Priest Who Conducted and Documented a Marriage by Proxy…
The Prosecutor Requests a Ruling for the Annulment of the Marriage Because It Was عقدed Without Performing the Religious Rites
The Court Rules the Marriage Null for the Same Reason
The Clerical Council decided to try one of the priests of Cairo because he conducted a marriage by proxy between a girl in Cairo and an emigrant in America. The emigrant did not attend; rather, his brother acted on his behalf in signing the marriage contract. The priest documented the marriage contract without completing the religious rites. Of course, because the “groom” was not present.
A dispute occurred, and a case was brought before the court in which the annulment of the marriage was requested due to the عدم completion of the religious rites. The prosecution requested the annulment of the marriage for this fundamental reason and considered that a Christian marriage without religious rites is as if it did not exist. The court agreed with the prosecution’s opinion and ruled the marriage null.
Thus, the court corrected the error committed by the priest and gave attention to the religious rites that the Orthodox priest had neglected.
U U U
It sometimes happens that an emigrant in America or Australia wishes to marry and assigns his family in Egypt to search for a bride for him. Understanding and agreement take place through correspondence. Then the (marriage) is also concluded on paper and documented!! without prayers…! The justification for this is to enable the girl to travel abroad (with the documented marriage contract), where the religious ceremonies would be performed there.
The girl travels abroad, and agreement may not occur between her and the man. Perhaps he does not like her, or she does not like him; the important thing is that they may not agree, and she returns to Egypt without completing religious ceremonies there.
Indeed, upon her arrival in America, she becomes confused about where to stay. Should she stay with this man to whom she is not bound by a church marriage, even if there is a paper marriage that the conscience does not approve? Or should she stay in a hotel or in the hospitality of the Church until the marriage is completed? Here she searches بكل قوتها for someone to complete the religious ceremonies as quickly as possible, and this may not happen if the town where the man resides has no church, requiring travel and time… and the two may not agree together, so the girl returns, and the problem emerges.
She is not a wife, ecclesiastically and in conscience, and perhaps she is still a virgin, but in the documented contract she is a wife in the eyes of the state.
The matter is brought before the Personal Status Court to decide on the issue.
Today’s case was presented before the Cairo Primary Court for Personal Status (Second Circuit, North Cairo). The session was held on Saturday 23/11/1974 under the presidency of Mr. Shadid Ahmed Hamza, with the membership of Mr. Adel Bayoumi Nassar and Mr. Ibrahim Abdel Gawad, and the prosecution was represented by Mr. Amin Shaheen, Prosecutor.
A case of this kind was considered. The priest conducted the marriage (on paper) at home on 16/2/1972. The (groom) did not attend. No religious ceremonies were performed. The (groom’s) brother signed the contract as his proxy. They placed before the groom’s name the passport number and the proxy number. The (marriage) was documented on the same day. No agreement occurred. The (wife) returned and filed a case on 24/5/1973.
The prosecution submitted a memorandum on 20/6/1974 concluding with the opinion of annulling the marriage because the priest did not perform the prescribed religious rites in this matter according to the Church of the Coptic Orthodox.
The court adopted the prosecution’s opinion and ruled the annulment of the marriage due to the عدم performance of the religious rites. It relied on the Personal Status laws of the Coptic Orthodox and on the opinion of Dr. Ahmed Salama in his book on the Personal Status of non-Muslim nationals and foreigners (p. 548, third edition). The court stated in its reasoning regarding the annulment of the marriage:
Since the plaintiff and the defendant are Coptic Orthodox, they are subject to the provisions of their own law, in accordance with Article Six of Law No. 462 of 1955. And since form is an essential pillar of marriage among Christians, such that if it is not present, the marriage does not exist.
The أصل of marriage is the religious ceremonies performed by a man of the clergy. Therefore, the عدم performance of these ceremonies necessarily nullifies it among all Christians.
Accordingly, the marriage contract of the plaintiff to the defendant did not fulfill the form by which it is completed, which is considered a pillar of its pillars, and thus it is necessary to rule the nullity of the contract…
For these reasons: The court ruled in presence the annulment of the marriage contract of the plaintiff to the defendant, documented بتاريخ 16/2/1973, with obligating the defendant to pay the expenses…
U U U
Marriage is a sacrament of the Church, performed through the prayer of the priest upon the couple, asking for the حلول of the Holy Spirit to make the two one. Hence, marriage by proxy does not agree with our ecclesiastical doctrines.
It is wrong for a priest to document a marriage for which the religious rites have not been performed; otherwise, this would be a recognition by the Church of customary or civil marriage. The completion of marriage is not a contract on paper, but rather a sacrament of the Church and a work of the Holy Spirit through the priest, the steward of the mysteries.
[1] An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III in El-Keraza Magazine, Year Six, Issue Twelve, 21 March 1975
For better translation support, please contact the center.
