Sir, - In 1857 the English government voted by a majority of two to take from the Church of England control of the marriage institution. In that year there were three divorces. In the 1990s, this has grown to around 1.75 hundred thousand annually, despite the fact that there are fewer married couples now than at the beginning of the century.
Last November our Government and media succeeded in persuading us to do the same. And today (May 1st) (the Feast of St Joseph the Worker), I heard a radio advert telling me that the State is now the boss of matrimony. Unless three months notice is given, the State will not recognise marriages. This is the only, indeed the most obvious, evidence of the gradual usurpation of the roles and rights of couples and of the church over the past 10 years.
The State no longer cares what the church or God thinks of its machinations. So neither in this matter are we bound by anything other than the force and sanctions of the State. We are "no longer at ease here, with an alien people clutching its gods" (T.S. Eliot).
The State will now ironically be responsible for sending droves of young couples abroad to get married. And the best of British Luck to them! - Yours, etc.,
Shore Front,
Buncrana.