Legislation to permit civil marriage in the Province of Quebec – something Jewish leaders along with civil rights groups and others have been urging for years – may be forthcoming in the near future, it was indicated here today. A speech from the Throne, read at the opening of the Quebec legislature, said that it will be “necessary to adapt certain of our civil administrative laws to the needs of the times, especially as regards civil marriages.” At present, it is necessary for couples to be married by a Catholic priest, an ordained minister or a rabbi. “This situation has long been considered a breach of the civil rights of those who practice no religion or who do not want to get married in a church,” the Canadian Press commented today. The introduction of civil marriages is also favored by the Board of Jewish Ministers of Greater Montreal and the religious affairs committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress.
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