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Italian Bishop Refuses Wedding to Impotent Man

DW staff (dc)June 9, 2008

An Italian bishop has denied a young paraplegic a church wedding because he is impotent, media in Rome have reported.

https://p.dw.com/p/EG8e
A wedding couple approaches the altar
The Italian couple will have to forgo a church weddingImage: picture alliance / dpa

Although the man's fiancée is aware of the problem, a spokesman for Bishop Lorenzo Chiarinelli of Viterbo, central Italy, told SkyTG24 television that "no bishop, no priest can celebrate a wedding when he knows of impotence as it is a motive for annulment."

The 26-year-old groom has been paraplegic since he was involved in a car accident. He and his fiancée were married in a civil ceremony on Saturday, June 7, in Viterbo, news agency AFP reported.

Attending the ceremony was their parish curate, who was banned from marrying the couple in church.

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