Show civil and religious marriages codry marriage Is a civil contract in catholic Catli olic as well as protestant countries the united states and france since the revolution treely freely recognize this fact marriage is legally binding if performed according in to the laws of the land without any intervention of the church this result inevitable because of 0 the personal and property rights involved which belonged properly to the juri diction of the state the church both Caf catholic and protestant retains however its ancient privileges of lal over its members and this accords with popular prejudice which atres to regard marriage as a sacrament azad which sees the advantage of giving the ceremony the greatest possible publicity and solemn sanction rochester democrat and chronicle |