Britney Spears, who has since had her wedding to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari in the backyard of her Beverly Hills mansion, didn't mention what church it was. But reporters figured it out and asked for a statement from St. Monica's Catholic Church, a vibrant parish community in Los Angeles.

The parish said they had no knowledge of Spears ever requesting to get married there.

In a follow-up post, Britney Spears explained that she had asked her wedding planner if she could marry Asghari at St Monica's.

She said, in fact, it was "the first request" she had put to the planner upon agreeing to work with them.

Six weeks later, she had been told no by the planner and assumed the parish had rejected her request.

Now, some Catholics might see Britney Spears as oblivious or uninterested in what exactly it means to get married in a Catholic church. "It's not just a random venue," one of her followers responded to the original post (which has since been taken down).

But Spears' attraction to St Monica's was pretty clearly not just about getting a great spot for the ‘grams.

In her original post, she wrote about her desire to go to St Monica's during the pandemic: "I wanted to go every Sunday," she wrote. "…It's beautiful and they said it was temporarily shut down due to COVID!!!! Then 2 years later when I wanted to get married there they said I had to be Catholic and go through TEST !!!!"

In her second post, she repeated that she has had a long-standing desire to go to St Monica's.

"During the 2 years of Covid, I also wanted to go there … I was told no due to the pandemic …"

These aren't the only times Spears has written in a positive way about Catholicism, either.

In August 2021, she posted about attending a Mass: "I just got back from Mass…I'm Catholic now…let us pray!" Catholic commentator Austin Ivereigh kidded on Twitter, "Next on Catholic news: Britney Spears names her puppy #Traditionis Custodes."

Pundits seemed to spend a lot of energy debating whether or not she had officially converted, but to my mind, they missed the point entirely. She had been to Mass and was happy enough about the experience to mention it and kid around a bit.

In the case of Spears' wedding, it seems that the parish had nothing to do with what happened. And if you're ever visiting Los Angeles, I highly recommend St Monica's. Britney Spears is right. It's a great place.

Situations similar to hers come up pretty often in many of our parishes. Especially when it comes to weddings and funerals, there are times when people come to our churches wanting things that don't necessarily fit our categories.

• They want a pop song at a funeral.
• They want a non-religious ritual included in their wedding.
• Or they want to get married here, even though they aren't Catholic.

It can be very easy to get hung up on the specific problems of their requests, not only because some of the same issues come up again and again (raise your hand if you've had someone insist they need "Stairway to Heaven" at a funeral), but because many of our parishes are already overwhelmed with the normal demands of their regular parishioners.

When you've got only one priest in a parish and maybe a pastoral associate, it can be hard to remember whether or not someone's desires fit our liturgical practices or are phrased the right way; there very well might be something deeply spiritual beneath the surface.

Evangelisation funnel

Some years ago, I interviewed Matt Meeks, then the chief digital officer of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

In our conversation, Meeks had a lot to say about what he called "the evangelisation funnel."

When you're doing marketing, he explained to me; there are three key phases that the evangeliser needs to speak to:

1. general awareness—your potential parishioner isn't in the market for something yet, and you're trying to keep the faith in front of them as something potentially meaningful;
2. consideration—your potential parishioner is looking for options, and you want them to see what you offer; and
3. intent—your potential parishioner is about to choose a place and you tangibly help them come to you (i.e. here's when our Masses and confessions are, and here's what you need to accept or do before participating).

One of the things Meeks said that has always stayed with me is that the church often does not do that first awareness step well.

"We're up to our neck in stories, but we're not telling those stories well."

What we tend to do instead is skip right to consideration, leaping into discussions of doctrine or rules that are way too much too soon.

"If our goal is to pull in people who are not necessarily in the market for God (or, I might add, the Catholic Church), Meeks told me, "you're too far down the funnel for them."

When it comes to moments like weddings or funerals, similar dynamics occur.

Our church buildings themselves give a fantastic taste of the beauty, hope and solace that our faith can offer.

But then, when people come in the door, we end up moving right into the rules—into what's allowed and what isn't—when we should be drawing out what brought them here and thinking about how we can nourish that.

Put another way, the whole reason we build beautiful churches and decorate them with gorgeous art is to give people some glimpse of the God who loves us.

We should not be caught off guard when unexpected people then show up at our doorstep. Continue reading

After a year of horrendous lows, the couple are picking themselves up. They're expecting another child and a Catholic wedding is being organised.

"We have our engagement party finally going ahead in July but we have had to push out the date of our wedding as we are now expecting a baby."

The couple, who got engaged in hospital just days after the crash, have endured multiple surgeries over the past year.

It has been a hard and agonising time - but they have tried to focus on the good, the positive and the future.

With more surgeries still to come, Corey has an artificial leg and is "even mobile without any assistance," Smith says.

"Adjusting to a new normal has been difficult, especially as an amputee and partially impaired [and] having to adapt to relying on people as prior [to the crash] we were so independent.

"The due date of our taonga and Mother's Day was extremely difficult however our good friends Sky, Tainui and Tash gave forever gifts that can beautifully honour our son and remember him forever.

Both have children from previous relationships.

"Parenting is the hardest with four children between us. Not being as active, our children have had to adjust to new activities to bond with us, which we are so proud of them for."

Smith said despite the difficulties the couple's "hearts have remained full with love and hope" - which increased when she found out she was pregnant.

"We both cried.

"We knew this would delay [my next] surgery however it was a blessing that we are so excited about."

The couple, known for their outreach work on the Kapiti Coast helping Maori and Pasifika youth, were planning a Catholic wedding before they found out about the pregnancy.

Thompson is going to be baptised into the Catholic Church as Smith says her one wish is "to be married in a church like my parents, grandparents and great grandparents who have all taken their oath through God seriously.

"All going well we should be hitched and partying in February 2024 as the 4th is our anniversary - the moment Corey swept me off the market."

Source

• Newstalk ZB
• Image: 7News

Father Sebastian Jones performed the ceremony on May 12, after the parents 'insisted that it take place immediately'.

Wedding ceremonies and christenings were banned in Wales when lockdown began on March 23.

The Archbishop of Cardiff George Stack confirmed the priest felt pressured to perform the banned service and "caved in".

He said he was "shocked and upset" that the incident occurred and the matter is under investigation by the church.

Stack also said he feels sympathy for the priest, who had to deal with a "very difficult pastoral situation".

During lockdown, all social events including weddings, baptisms, and other ceremonies, except for funerals, were stopped.

Catholic churches within all 22 dioceses of England and Wales were directed to close and not to carry out wedding services in line with UK and Welsh Government guidance.

Stack is sending guidance to other churches in the diocese stressing such weddings must not happen again during the lockdown.

He added: "When you're presented with a crisis situation [such as Jones faced], in a way you're under a lot of pressure internally and externally".

"It shouldn't have happened in strict accordance with the law, but when you're dealing with a kind of turmoil-ridden situation, it's very difficult to resolve".

The Cardiff Council has also spoken out about the wedding, saying it wasn't legal because notice wasn't given.

"For a wedding to be legal, notice of the wedding must be given at least 28 days in advance," he said.

"New notices of marriage are not currently being accepted due to Covid-19 and notice has not been given for this wedding".

The lockdown-breaking wedding became public knowledge after images were shared on Facebook showing at least ten people, including children, in what seems to be the Cardiff church.

A Facebook live video also showed guests offering their congratulations to the happy couple and dancing.

One man is even heard saying: 'F*** the coronavirus. It won't stop us having a party.'

Gwent Police have confirmed officers were called to the wedding party about 10pm that evening in response to complaints about a disturbance.

They are continuing to investigate and will take action if rules on gatherings and social distancing have been broken.

"We are now aware of the individuals who reside at or on the property and we will take appropriate and proportionate action if officers determine that a breach has occurred," a Police statement said.

"Officers ... are continuing to look into the matter as new information becomes available".

Souece

• ITV
• Wales Online
• Daily Mail
• BBC
• Image: Daily Mail

The government bill has passed the House of Commons and is now being scrutinised by a joint human rights committee of MPs and peers before being voted on by the House of Lords.

The Church's chief legal adviser on the bill has told the committee that there are serious questions over whether the legal basis on which Catholic weddings are performed can survive the passage of the bill.

Professor Christopher McCrudden said Catholic bishops may have to reconsider whether priests can carry on performing weddings, in effect, on behalf of the state.

The barrister said his advice to senior bishops is that proposed protections for churches against legal challenges under human rights or equalities laws for refusing to marry gay couples completely overlook the position of Catholics and other denominations.

This means that the entire legal basis for Catholic weddings, operating since the late 19th century, could be "unpicked" with "very uncertain consequences", he warned.

One possible outcome could even be a complete separation of church and civil weddings, such as happens in France where couples are married in the town hall with a separate service in churches, he said.

"The stakes could not be higher," he told the parliamentary committee.

"Immediately the bill is passed, the Catholic Church will have to consider how exposed to legal risk it is and whether it can continue to work the existing legal system based on that assessment."

In January, a group of more than 1000 priests issued a public letter warning that the time of persecution of Catholics could be returning with the imposition of "gay marriage". They said the bill, along with other "equalities laws", could bring back state-sponsored attacks on clergy.

Sources:

The Telegraph

LifeSiteNews

Image: Merle Dress