CHRISTIANS wanting to register their marriages in Mumbai are now forced to travel to Pune which is over 145 km away from the city amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Reason? The post of marriage officer in Mumbai has not been filled up yet after the incumbent retired.
Activists Godfrey Pimenta and Nicholas Almeida of Watchdog Foundation have urged the Maharashtra government to appoint a new marriage officer at the earliest.
“Mumbai has a Catholic population of 1 million and every year thousands get married in the over 100 Catholic churches in Mumbai alone. The post of marriage officer has been lying vacant since the previous officer Mr. Ashish Lopez retired,” Pimenta said.
Those getting married are asked to get their marriage certificate from the local church where the wedding is solemnised. The certificate is then attested by the chancellor attached to the Archbishop House in Colaba and later attested by a notary public. It is then stamped by the state home department and the marriage officer.
“Because the marriage officer’s post in Mumbai has been vacant, people are forced to travel all the way to Pune to get it signed by the officer there,” Pimenta said.
Meanwhile the archdiocese of Bombay said they have requested the government to appoint a marriage officer in Mumbai soon.
