Preparation for marriage is one of the most common places where pastoral care and canon law meet. Concern can clash with the legal procedure It was only last month that I asked a parishioner if he understood the rights and duties of marriage in relation to having and rearing children. The reply of most people to such a question would be to ask what on earth I was talking about. However, he meekly said “yes”, answering in the same way as he had done to a long series of other questions relating to his forthcoming ­marriage, where an affirmative answer seemed the only viable option, if one was to be deemed suitable for marriage.I was completing what is called a Pre-Nuptial Enquiry Form with a parishioner. This is the form priests use to check that parishioners are free to ma