Slight rise in number of Church marriages

Sunday Mass attendance may be declining but there has been a slight increase in the number of Church marriages last year compared to the previous one.

Church marriages numbered 1,564 last year, a marginal increase over 2007 when 1,557 couples chose a Catholic ceremony.

The highest number of Church marriages registered over these past eight years was in 2000, with 1,782 marriages, while the lowest was in 2003, with 1,488 marriages.

A total 1,328 of last year's weddings were between Maltese nationals, according to figures released by the Curia.

May and June proved to be the most popular months for weddings with 227 and 228 respectively. The least popular months were January and February when just 16 ceremonies were celebrated in each.

There were 64 marriages between Maltese and foreigners. Of these, 37 were between Catholics, 19 between a Catholic and a Christian and eight between a Catholic and a non-Christian.

The foreigners consisted of 44 men and 20 women: 13 from Italy; nine from England; five from Russia; four from Nigeria; three each from Belgium, Bulgaria, the Philippines and the US; two each from Canada, Germany and The Netherlands; and one from Algeria, Belarus, Brazil, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Croatia, Latvia, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Scotland, Ukraine and Wales.

Moreover, there were seven marriages between Maltese couples living abroad and another 165 between foreign couples living in Malta.

Sixty-seven couples were married by the State but chose to validate their marriage in the Church - 18 of these took place after less than a year from their civil ceremony, 39 after less than one to five years, six after six to 10 years and four after 11 to 17 years.

Twenty-four widowers and widows re-married, including a 70-year-old man, while 44 others re-married after their previous vows were annulled.

The figures do not include weddings, which took place within the Gozo Diocese.