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Special canon law presentations to help those at the coalface of marriage

Catholics can benefit from learning more about what spiritual and practical help the Church is obliged to offer for engaged and married couples. PHOTO: CNS

Expert teaching tailored for those working in parish life

Preparing couples for sacramental marriage, helping them to celebrate their wedding and flourish in their life together is a new growth area for Catholics working in the Church’s mission of evangelisation and outreach.

So believes President of the Catholic Institute of Sydney Sister Isabell Naumann ISSM, who is inviting anyone interested or already involved in this work to take part in a professional development offering beginning this month.

Canon Law and Celebrating Marriage is offered in a series of four modules, beginning on Friday 26 March from 10am to 3pm.

‘Canon Law and Celebrating Marriage’ is based upon the recently updated ‘Red Book’, ‘Celebrating Marriage in the Archdiocese of Sydney’.

Sr Naumann said that the modules are particularly suitable for professional development for parish secretaries and people working in diocesan offices who often are the first point of contact for people with questions about being married in the Catholic Church, as well as parish priests.

But they would also be ideal for anyone involved in this area including marriage preparation facilitators and those assisting with the wedding day celebrations themselves, she added.

“Canon law is not just a code of law but an integral part of who we are as a Church,” Sr Naumann said. “Our former attendees say that it really helps lay Catholics to know a bit about it, particularly in respect to their own rights and responsibilities and especially when it comes to receiving the sacraments.”

Canon law experts Fr Julian Wellspring, Fr John Doherty and Fr Richard Waddell are the presenters and will feature in a Q@A session at the conclusion of Module 4 in October.

Module One covers Catholic marriage, preparation, and domicile and marriage. Module Two looks at some practical issues with respect to the place of marriage, mixed marriages, impediments and dispensations. Module Three continues with the practical issues of marriage and baptism, the Eastern Churches, and validation of marriages. The final one concludes with the work of the Church Tribunal, civil law and the Q@A session.

Canon Law and Celebrating Marriage is being offered for the first time this year and is based upon the recently updated ‘Red Book’, Celebrating Marriage in the Archdiocese of Sydney.

Modules will be run from 10am to 3pm on 26 March, 28 May, 20 August and 22 October.
Cost is $100 per module. Each can be taken as a stand-alone and those wishing to attend for personal or professional interest can opt to attend one or more online or in person at the Institute at Strathfield.

Bookings are essential. For details: [email protected] or call 9752 9500

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