The Procedure of Recognizing the Civil Consequences of a Canonical Marriage in the Polish Law

Abstract

As result of conclusion of a concordat between the Apostolic See and Poland, the institution of “canonical marriage with civil consequences”, called a concordat marriage, has been introduced into the Polish law system. The considerations contained in the present paper are concerned with an analysis of legal acts and actions that should be taken by "the priest of the Catholic Church or another religious association” - recognized by the law - and the head of the registry when such a marriage is contracted, according to the requirements established in art. 10 of the concordat and the law of July 24, 1998 about changing the laws: Family and Tutelar Code, the relations between the Catholic Church and the State, and some other ones.

The author distinguishes three stages in the procedure:
1) the stage preceeding contraction of marriage;
2) the stage of celebrating marriage;
3) the stage following contraction of marriage.