The Catholic church in Italy is to offer a marriage service tailored to the needs of lapsed Catholics in one of several moves aimed at reversing a decline in the number of Italians choosing to wed in church.
About 600 priests and lay representatives met yesterday in Grosseto, Tuscany, to present the changes which take effect this month.
The dwindling number of regular churchgoers will be able to marry, as before, with a full mass with communion for both partners. But in future, if either the bride or groom is a non-believer or belongs to another faith, it will be permissible for only the Catholic to take communion.
The most striking aspect of the changes concerns the vast number of Italians who, while describing themselves as Catholics, do not go to mass each week. While almost 90% of Italians say they are Catholic, less than a third of these go to church on Sundays, according to a poll in 2003.
The figure for active worshippers has fallen by more than 6% since 1985. The growing gap between belief and practice is thought to be one factor behind a sharp drop in church marriages. During the 90s, the total fell by a fifth.
The new rules provide for a marriage service in which two Catholics can wed, but without either attending mass or receiving communion. This was possible before only "when one of the partners was a non-believer or belonged to another denomination", said Father Sergio Niccoli, head of family affairs at the Italian bishops' conference.
He denied the church was creating a second-class form of marriage. "It was decided to offer a marriage service without communion solely to respect the sensibilities of the marriage partners," he said.
The new arrangements have been introduced despite growing unease among some prelates who feel the church's premises are increasingly being used for non-religious purposes.
Last year Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, the Archbishop of Milan, criticised couples who asked for a religious ceremony merely because they wanted a colourful and prestigious ritual.