New figures released by the Central Statistics Office in Ireland show
that number of Catholic marriage ceremonies in a year has dropped to 74
per cent of all marriages, down from 90 per cent in 1996.
The latest data, which has been compiled from the marriage
registration forms of all marriages registered in the Republic of
Ireland in 2007, show that in total, 22,756 marriages were registered in
2007 of which 16,854 were Catholic marriage ceremonies (74%).
The
number of civil marriages totalled 5,146 or 23% of all marriages in the
same year, up from 928 or six per cent in 1996 when divorce was not yet
legalised.
However, the figure is only a very small increase (19) on
the number of civil marriages in 2006.
The CSO figures show that a further 526 marriages were Church of
Ireland ceremonies (2%) and the remaining one per cent was made up of
Presbyterian, Methodist, Jewish and other ceremonies.
There is at
present no provision for the civil registration of Muslim marriage
ceremonies solemnised in Ireland.
In 1996, civil marriages accounted for six per cent of all marriages
and by 2002 the figure had jumped to 18%.
A contributing factor for
this large increase was the legislation for divorce in 1997.
In more
recent years, the number of civil partnerships has remained more
constant at 22%, 23% and 23% of marriages in 2005, 2006 and 2007
respectively.
The average age of the groom in 2007 in Catholic marriages was 32.3
years and the average age of the groom in civil marriages was 36.8
years.
The average age of the bride in Catholic marriages was 30.5
years and the average age of the bride in civil marriages was 33.9
years.
In 2007, civil marriage ceremonies were the most common form of
ceremony for grooms aged 45 and over and for brides aged 40 and over.
Responding to the figures, Stephen Cummins, Director of Marriage
Education Services at ACCORD, the Catholic Marriage Care Service in
Ireland, said he considered the figure of 74% for Catholic marriages as
still “very high.”
Speaking to CI News, he said, “What the CSO figures show is that
this is a fairly mature cohort of individuals who are choosing to get
married in the Catholic church. They have thought quite deeply about
what it is they are undertaking and this is a serious choice they have
made.”
He underlined that of the 23% who are getting married in civil
ceremonies there was likely to be “a cohort of people in that number who
may not be able to get married in a Catholic Church. Obviously if
there are two non-Catholics, they are not going to avail of Catholic
marriage but there are also likely to be people who are divorced and do
not have an annulment; they will not be able to get married in a
Catholic church. I would suggest that there is even a number of them
who, if there was a choice, would opt for a Catholic marriage.”
He said that there was no research to date to establish what kind of
numbers within the 23% might be Catholics in second relationships who
cannot be remarried in a Church service.
“I think it is worthy of a bit
more research”, he added.
Noting that the new figures refer to marriages in Ireland for 2007,
Stephen Cummins underlined that figures available from the General
Registry Office for 2008 show that 15,925 Catholic marriages took place,
indicating that interest in a Catholic marriage remained high.
He said
couples taking marriage preparation courses with ACCORD were
increasingly citing the recession and fear of job loss and the
unpredictability of the economic situation as one of their biggest
concerns ahead of marriage.
SIC: CIN/IE