Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, has announced that the Second Edition of the Rite of Marriage has been approved and may be used as early as September 8. As that date approaches, publishers are preparing ritual book editions, and regional workshops led by the Bishops’ Secretariat for Divine Worship and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions are being held. The actual decree states:
“In accord with the norms established by decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites in Cum, nostra ætate (January 27, 1966) and of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Liturgiam authenticam (March 28, 2001), this edition of the Order of Celebrating Matrimony is declared to be the vernacular typical edition of the Ordo Celebrandi Matrimonium, editio typica altera, and is published by authority of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“The Order of Celebrating Matrimony was canonically approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on November 12, 2013, and was subsequently confirmed by the Apostolic See by decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on June 29, 2015 (Prot. n. 84/14).
“The Order of Celebrating Matrimony may be used in the Liturgy as of September 8, 2016, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and its use is obligatory as of December 30, 2016, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. From that date forward, no other English edition of the Order of Celebrating Matrimony may be used in the dioceses of the United States of America.”
Adoremus’ readers will recall Benedict Nguyen’s “Marriage Law Revisited: Addressing Common Misunderstandings of the Sacrament of Matrimony” in both the January and March issues of Adoremus Bulletin, where he clearly explained many aspects of canon and liturgical law about this sacrament. In addition, Father Randy Stice’s entry, “The Wondrous Design of Your Love: An Introduction to the Sacrament of Matrimony and the Nuptial Blessing” from the November 2015 issue laid much of the theological and liturgical foundation for marriage. Father Stice will give an in-depth look at the ritual elements of the Marriage Rite in the September 2016 issue.