independent.ie– Congregants at London’s Westminster Cathedral have asked the priest to clarify how a twice-divorced prime minister was able to remarry in a Catholic church.
At the cathedral yesterday, churchgoers claimed confusion at the wedding of Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds on Saturday, saying it “doesn’t look very well for us” given his history.
A woman who was baptised there 70 years ago said she had asked the priest for clarification on the rules surrounding divorcees. Catholic canon law does not permit the marriage of a divorcee whose former spouse is still alive.
However, the church confirmed yesterday that as neither his six-year first marriage to Allegra Mostyn-Owen, nor his second 27-year marriage to Marina Wheeler were Catholic ceremonies, they were not recognised in the eyes of the Church.
Saturday’s wedding was kept a closely guarded secret and it is understood only a handful of people were aware of the preparations.
Elizabeth Pierce (68) said: “I don’t understand how they got married here because he’s been divorced… and the Catholic Church doesn’t condone that. I don’t want to, as it were in the Bible, cast the first stone, but it doesn’t look very well for us, his past.”
Regular attendees said they heard no announcement of the marriage during services.
Many congregants supported the decision of Father Daniel Humphreys to marry them, saying the prime minister was a free man.
A spokesman for Catholic Voices said: “The PM entered into a sacramental marriage yesterday. Many will ask: how is it that the Catholic Church, famous for its vigorous commitment to the permanence of marriage, should witness the marriage of a twice-divorced PM who is publicly notorious for the opposite? What kind of message does that send?
“But Catholics have a right to the sacraments, and if they fulfil the requirements in law and properly enter into them, no one can stop them exercising those rights.”
Six months ago, Fr Humphreys baptised the couple’s son Wilfred in the Lady Chapel, where they wed. The couple were both baptised Catholics, though Mr Johnson renounced his mother’s Catholicism when he was confirmed in the Anglican faith whilst at Eton.
It is understood both had been “under instruction” with the priest for “many months” before the ceremony.
A spokesman for Westminster Cathedral said: “The bride and groom are parishioners of the Westminster Cathedral parish and baptised Catholics.
“All necessary steps were taken, in both Church and civil law, and all formalities completed before the wedding. We wish them every happiness.”
Christopher Goodyear (64) a witness protection officer in the Metropolitan Police, called the news of Mr Johnson’s marriage “interesting”, adding: “I presume it’s the wife who’s the Catholic as he’s been married many times before. It’s nice to have a prime minister who’s Catholic, so good luck to them.”
When asked what remarrying within the Catholic faith meant to the congregation, he said: “He hadn’t been married to a Catholic before so I wasn’t really that bothered. He’s now married in the Catholic church so he can’t get married again – if he does then that invalidates everything. So let’s hope he keeps his trousers on and behaves himself.”
Flo Zerrouk, a former hotel secretary from Westminster, said: “It’s a great feeling our prime minister got married here, because I’m proud to be a Catholic and they’re Catholic.”
Harry Groenen, a retired teacher from Surrey, said it was an “honour” to have the prime minister marry there. He said that under Pope Francis’s influence, the Catholic Church was now “much more liberal and open” to remarriage. (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2021)
