By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA, Ontario (CNS) — When no
priests were available, the bishop of the Quebec Diocese of Rouyn-Noranda
sought and received Vatican permission for a local nun to officiate at a recent
wedding.
While the story has been
portrayed around the world as a sign that Pope Francis is changing the
role of women in the church, Bishop Dorylas Moreau said the wedding was carried out according to a long-established provision of canon law.
It allows an exception for a layperson
to be permitted to officiate at a wedding when a bishop, priest or deacon is
unavailable. That layperson can be a man or a woman.
“It is an exceptional
situation, not something habitual,” Bishop Moreau said in French.
The bishop said he has only 16
priests for 35 parishes in a diocese that covers nearly 9,300 square miles of rugged territory. The diocese has more
than 75 nuns, but no deacons, although three are currently in formation.
This priest shortage, especially
acute in the summer, led the bishop to make a request through the Vatican’s
Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments for permission to have Sister Pierrette
Thiffault of the Sisters of Providence conduct the wedding. Approval was
received in May.
On July 22, Sister Thiffault
conducted the wedding of a couple identified only as David and Cindy at a
Catholic parish in Lorrainville, Quebec, about 300 miles northwest of
Ottawa. The church was not far from the parish in Moffett, where Sister
Thiffault is a pastoral worker.
She had known David since he was
a high school student through her role as a catechist.
The couple was unavailable for
an interview.
“It was a new experience
for me,” Sister Thiffault said in French. She described the experience as “precious”
for her, for the couple and for the people in the parish.
“It was good for the
diocese,” she said. “It was also an experiment for the Catholic
Church.”
Sister Thiffault called her
involvement a “work of evangelization,” because she met with the
couple several times to help prepare them for marriage.
If another need arises, she
would be happy to officiate again, she said.
“I imagine the
authorization will not be given only for one marriage,” she said. “If
I can help, I will accept.”
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Gyapong
is Ottawa correspondent for Canadian Catholic News.
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