Mystified by Catholic church’s blessing for Boris Johnson’s wedding Letters

about 3 years in The guardian

Readers question why the twice-divorced prime minister was allowed to marry at Westminster Cathedral
I worked for 10 years as a Roman Catholic priest in south London and was obliged to leave the ministry when I met Clare and we decided to get married (Catholics question why Boris Johnson was able to marry in church, 30 May). Pope John Paul II refused us permission to be married in church. Is it that Boris Johnson always gets what he wants, or is it that the church’s rules defy any rational logic, or is it perhaps both?Chris LarkmanLondon
• Twenty-eight years ago, my wife and I were refused a blessing in a Catholic church in Bournemouth on the grounds that I was divorced. My first marriage took place in a register office, but there was no mention of an exemption being made on the grounds that this was not a Catholic ceremony. However, as I had no children from my first marriage, the priest asked if my first wife had refused to have children, as this might be grounds for an annulment. Obviously, this could not be applied to Boris Johnson, given his fecundity. We thought it would not be a good way to start a new relationship if it were to be based on a lie, and so we declined the “offer”.Philip and Tina WraggCampillos, Málaga, Spain Continue reading...

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