Priests in Ukraine to be given right to officially register marriages

The sacrament of marriage. Photo: ElitsyMedia

Ukraine is preparing a reform of civil legislation under which authorized clergy of officially registered religious organizations would be granted the right to conduct state registration of marriages, according to the Judicial-Legal Newspaper.

The relevant provisions were discussed by representatives of the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and members of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Legal Policy during work on the draft of a new Civil Code.

Under the proposed mechanism, after celebrating the sacrament, a priest would enter the necessary information into the State Register of Civil Status Acts. The State Service of Ukraine for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience has already backed the initiative, noting that similar religious marriage-registration practices operate successfully in many countries around the world.

Officials believe this format will be especially in demand in frontline settlements, where the Church remains one of the few institutions still functioning reliably.

Participants in the discussion also confirmed that the new code would preserve the fundamental provision that marriage is a union exclusively between a woman and a man. Experts stress that the proposed change would not replace the existing system but would serve as an additional convenient option for believers.

As previously reported by the UOJ, the Prime Minister of Ukraine discussed with UCCRO the transition toward partnership between the state and the Church.

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