The idea of a Deputy to legally recognize the fact of the wedding was surprising ROC
Moscow. 17 Oct. INTERFAX.RU the Initiative of the Deputy of the state Duma Vladimir Sysoev, who offered to legally recognize the fact of the wedding was a surprise for the official representatives of the Moscow Patriarchate.
“The proposal with the Russian Orthodox Church was not discussed, and the news that it put forward, was a surprise to us,” — said “Interfax” the Deputy head of the Synodal Department for Church and society and the media Vakhtang Kipshidze, commenting on the initiative.
He recalled that the practice of registration of Church marriages were common for the Russian Empire, where the Russian Orthodox Church was the state. In addition, this practice still exists in some European countries, where the local Church has the status of a state.
However, in the opinion of the representative of the Synodal Department, “return of the practice in circumstances when the Russian state is secular seems to have a number of difficulties connected with the change of the whole complex of legislation”.