Anglican Church Weddings in Corfu

This section applies to all followers of the Protestant/Anglican faith, regardless of their nationality, who wish to have a Protestant/Anglican Church wedding in Corfu , in which case the parties concerned must first conclude a civil wedding in the local town hall.

Regulation:

Parties concerned must:

•  Fulfill the civil laws of Greece on marriage (which basically means that they have successfully supplied the required documentation).

•  Fulfill the principles and regulations set out by Diocese in Europe (see attached regulations).

•  First conclude a civil wedding registration at the local Town Hall in Corfu prior to their church wedding. Please note that without getting married first by Civil Wedding, the Protestant Wedding is not legally valid.

•  Attend a marriage preparation class at the local Church in Corfu during the week prior to their church wedding. The date for this meeting with the local Chaplain is arranged well in advance.

•  Attend a wedding rehearsal at the church during the week prior to the wedding during which they must present their wedding license.

Procedure:

To explain you at little bit about the procedure involved and what our offices undertake to handle for and on your behalf to save you the hussle, please read through the following:

•  Parties concerned must inform their Chaplain at their home country parish in writing of their intention to marry at least six months in advance of the proposed wedding date, stating their current civil state: single/divorced/widower. They also have to have the necessary documents issued, translated into Greek by an official translator at their home country (local Greek Embassies/Consulates can help you out there by suggesting to you some approved translators), and finally, take the translated documents along with the originals to their local Greek Consulate to have them certified with the Apostile Seal. All this is before you send all the documents (and their certified translations) over to us, to start dealing with for and on your behalf with the local authorities for your wedding.

•  We first arrange for an advertisement to be placed (for one day) in the local press, stating the parties' intention to marry, a copy of which will also be displayed at the Town Hall for 8 days, according to the Greek law requirements on weddings. We supply you with copy of this ad as a safe keep.

•  We then submit all the documentation for the civil wedding registration, on your behalf, to the local Registrar's Office in Corfu, three months in advance of the proposed wedding date. Please note that several stamp duties and a license fee are payable at this stage, that is why we always require at least a 50% deposit of your total wedding fee to be paid to us at the time of booking your wedding with us.

•  Within 8 working days of the documents being submitted, your wedding license is issued, valid for 6 months. The wedding may take place as soon as the license is issued.

•  With your wedding licence in hand, we then proceed to submitting on your behalf, your Wedding Application (the one you fill out for us at the start) along with your wedding license to the local Town Hall, to have your preferred date and time for your Civil Wedding confirmed and booked.

•  Your civil wedding takes place at the local Town Hall in the presence of 2 witnesses (in case you haven't any, we stand in for you). Your church wedding (pre-arranged on your behalf with the local Pastor) may follow directly or any time after.

Note : As soon as you provide us with the necessary documentation duly completed, our offices will deal with all the necessary proceedings on your behalf. Your physical presence on the island is only required a week before the proposed wedding date in order to attend the church marriage preparation class and rehearsal and to perform the civil registration ceremony in the presence of two witnesses.

 With regards to the required documentation, please see below:

•  Civil Wedding Application form (see attached form to be completed)

•  Anglican Church Wedding Application form (see attached)

•  Copy of Birth Certificate for each applicant

•  Certificate of No-Impediment to Marriage for each applicant 

•  Simple legal affidavit empowering Ms Filia Lilianne Charitos to deal with all your wedding arrangements with the local authorities for and on your behalf, signed by both parties and witnessed by your solicitor/attorney.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The above documents have to be translated into Greek and certified by the local Greek Consulate, prior to being send over to us. We always suggest that you send us your documents using a secure channel, like registered mail or courrier mail.

Here below, we list for your personal information, some of the Guidelines for Protestant / Anglican Church Weddings - issued by the Diocese in Europe, which rules over the local Diocese in Corfu:

Solemnisation of Matrimony - General Principles

This is an area in which the regulation for the local Diocese differs most from those in England (UK).

•  The form of service for the Solemnisation of Matrimony may be celebrated only once for each marriage.

•  In England there are territorial parishes, and every parishioner normally has the right under common law to be married in his or her parish church, the sole exception being the right of an incumbent to refuse when one or both of the parties has a previous partner still living. In most of this Diocese there are no territorial parishes, there is no civil law right to marriage in church, and the local law requires a civil marriage before a religious ceremony may be performed.

•  The Solemnisation of Matrimony is the Church's blessing on the marriage of Christians. It may not be celebrated where neither party is baptised.

General Regulations:

It follows:-

•  That the Solemnisation of Matrimony, like all services, is conducted under the authority (explicit or implicit) of the Bishop of the Diocese; Section B (17) below indicated cases where the Bishop's explicit authority, given by means of a licence, is required;

•  That marriage will be solemnised in our chaplainries only when there is no canonical impediment, and normally when both parties are baptised;

•  That no right to the solemnisation of marriage can be claimed by a merely residential qualification;

•  That local law concerning marriage must be strictly observed and the regulations which follow must be interpreted in the light of such laws;

•  That no service of any kind which implies the existence of a marriage should be celebrated unless the chaplain has evidence that the marriage exists and is recognised both by the local law and by the law of the country/s of which the parties are citizens;

•  That, as the fundamental concern of the clergy should be the preparation of couples and ongoing pastoral care for them, arrangements for a marriage must be made between the officiating minister and the couple concerned, and not through a commercial third party.

•  That (except in special circumstances, such as the serious illness or incapacity of one of the parties, for which the Bishop's licence is required) the solemnisation of matrimony may be celebrated only in the chaplainry's usual place of worship, or in another, consecrated church.

Solemnisation of a Marriage in Church

•  In these regulations "solemnisation of marriage in church" means solemnisation of marriage in the chaplainry's usual place of worship or in another, consecrated church.

•  Where local law does not recognise the civil validity of the Church of England marriage service, civil marriage must closely precede solemnisation in church.

•  Where local law does not recognise that validity, its rules governing marriage in church must be followed.

•  The marriage service is celebrated in full following one of the authorised rites: The Book of Common Prayer, the Alternative Service Book 1980 and Series 1 Solemnisation of Matrimony.

B(16) Those whose marriage in church is implicitly authorized by the Bishop

The Bishop's implicit authority to solemnise matrimony may be assumed in the following circumstances:

•  Both parties are baptised;

•  Neither party has a previous partner living;

•  The parties are not related within the prohibited degrees;

•  Both parties are of age to marry both by civil and by canon law;

•  One at least of the parties is on the electoral roll, or is a regular worshipper at the services of the chaplainry;

•  The chaplain is satisfied that both parties have been adequately prepared.

B(17) Those whose marriage in church requires the Bishop's licence:

•  Where one party to a proposed marriage is not baptised

•  Approval for the solemnisation of marriage will be sought by the chaplain

•  No person may be baptised merely to enable a marriage to be solemnised in church. Any adult who seeks baptism is subject to the Diocese's relevant guidelines.

•  Where the requirement of regular worship is not fulfilled

If (in circumstances which in England would lead him to apply for a Special Licence from the Archbishop of Canterbury) a chaplain judges it pastoral desirable to solemnise the marriage when, although the other requirements set out above have been fulfilled, neither party worships regularly in the chaplainry, he should apply using the form set out in the Appendix.

•  Where one or both parties has a partner from a previous marriage still living

•  The teaching and discipline of the Church of England includes the affirmation that "remarriage after divorce during the lifetime of a former partner always involves a departure from the true principle of Christian marriage as declared by our Lord" (Act of Convocation of Canterbury 1 October 1957)

•  It follows that no chaplain can be required to solemnise such a marriage, or to allow the church to be used for it.

•  When a chaplain is considering the possibility of solemnising the marriage he should assure himself:

•  That all obligations under the previous marriage(s) have been and are being discharged;

•  That neither party was responsible for, or involved in, the break down of the other's earlier marriage;

•  That no scandal will be caused to the congregation or the community by the solemnisation of the marriage; and

•  That both partners have studied and accept the Church of England's teaching on marriage.

•  In the cases set out in 1, 2 & 3 above:

•  The completed application should be sent to the local Archdeacon (via the third local party representing the interests of the parties wishing to marry), who will check the legal requirements and advise the Bishop on the issuing of a licence;

•  The application should be made at least three months before the proposed date of the marriage;

•  No undertaking to solemnise the marriage should be made until the Bishop's license has been issued.

B(18) When one of the parties is a member of another Church

The party who is a member of the other Church should be encouraged:

•  To seek the pastoral help of his/her priest or minister;

•  To involve the minister in the ceremony and its preparation; and

•  To secure (if required by his/her church) the necessary dispensations of the Bishop or other competent church authority.

B(19) Certificates of Marriage

Books of certificates issued by the Registrar General in the United Kingdom must not be used in this Diocese.

Please find in the appendix the application forms issued by the Diocese in Europe , that need to be completed by the intending parties, according to their particular circumstances.