Canon 1112 - Lay
Witnesses for Marriage

§1: With the prior favorable opinion of the conference of bishops and after the permission of the Holy See has been obtained, the diocesan bishop can delegate lay persons to assist at marriages where priests or deacons are lacking.

§2: A suitable lay person is to be chosen who is capable of giving instruction to those to be wed and qualified to perform the marriage liturgy correctly.

Complementary Norm: In accord with canon 1112, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops recommends to the Holy See that it favorably entertain the requests of those individual diocesan bishops who, in view of the severe shortage of ordained ministers in certain vast territories of the United States, seek the faculty to delegate lay persons to assist at marriages.

Approved: General Meeting, November 1989

Promulgated: Minutes of November 1989 General Meeting, March 1990