Church Marriage

Church Marriage

 

a marriage solemnized in a church according to religious rituals. In some countries, it has equal status with the civil form of contracting marriage, for example, in Great Britain and some states of the USA; in others, it is the obligatory form of marriage, for example, in Spain and Greece. In the USSR, only marriages contracted through the register offices for documents of civil status (ZAGS) are recognized. Religious ritual does not have legal significance. This rule does not apply to church marriages performed before the formation or restoration of the Soviet ZAGS.