RELIGION : Nuns, Laity Get Role in Weddings

The Vatican, in a swifter than usual response, has granted permission to Archbishop Francis Hurley of Anchorage, Alaska, to delegate nuns and laity to perform marriages where priests or deacons are not present, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops said today.

The Vatican action follows a recommendation to the Vatican last November by the bishops’ conference urging the Holy See to look favorably on such requests by individual bishops in view of the shortage of ordained priests in mission territories of the United States.

Often such requests languish in the Vatican bureaucracy for over a year.