Religious Weddings in Rome

The requirements listed below are specific to anyone planning on getting married in the Church of St John Lateren in Rome, under the auspices of the Irish College in Rome.

Please Note: This service of the Irish College is available only to Irish Citizens. For general information on marrying in Catholic Churches in Italy, please see here.

The Irish College

The Irish College are very experienced and very helpful in organising your wedding in Rome. However church paperwork takes some time to complete, so realistically you need to start at least 6 months prior to the wedding.

Initial Documentation

All of the documentation and procedures below are in addition to the Italian Civil requirements, which you can review here.

Both parties to the marriage need:

Baptismal certificates issued from the parish where the baptisms took place and dated within the past six months (ie the one you used at your confirmation will not suffice).
Confirmation certificates issued from the parish where confirmations took place and dated within the last six months.

In addition

Permission from the bride’s Parish Priest (or one of his curates) that she may be married outside her own parish.

All of these documents should be forwarded by the bride’s parish priest to his bishop. The bishop will then add a a covering letter and send everything to the Irish College.

Additional Documentation

In some situation one or more of the following documents may be required, your priest in Ireland will be able to advise in your case:

Additional Letters of freedom from other parishes where either party has lived for a significant period.
A dispensation if either party to the marriage is not baptised in the Roman Catholic Church.
If either party had a previously annulled marriage a Decree of Nullity.
If either party was previously married, a death certificate.

Pre-marriage Courses

The Irish College strongly advise that a Marriage Preparation course is completed. There will be pressure put on for you to complete one and it is a good idea to plan to so do.

Translation of Documents

In the case of marriages arranged through the Irish College in Rome, with the wedding taking place in St. John Lateran in Rome, no translations of documents is required.

Cost

As of September 2005 the Irish College in Rome charge a fee of €600 for a private wedding and €500 for a group wedding which includes the following:

Secretarial expenses of the Irish College.
Administration fee at the Rome Vicariate
Donation to the parish priest of St. John Lateran Parish.
Cost and postage of Civil Certificate of Marriage.
Papal Blessing Parchment
Offering to Celebrant of wedding.