Life’s A Beach, But Sacraments Belong In Church

From Mexico …

Churches in. Hotels, homes, and haciendas out. Cuernavaca’s bishop, Florencio Olvera Ochoa, has put the kibosh on weddings, baptisms, and other sacraments being celebrated outside of places of worship.

This comment slays me:

(N)ew rules would (also) crack down on phony priests offering their services in the diocese — usually at destination weddings and, in one prominent case, the marriage of a famed soap opera actress and prominent soccer star.

You’d be surprised at the numbers of phony clergy out there. You can probably be sure they have some online certificate or mail-order ministry license.

Bishop Ochoa cited “elitism,” but the problem really is the devolving of the sacraments into private observances, disconnected from a faith community.