A joint document on interchurch marriage, published by the Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops of Killaloe, says the decision on the religious upbringing of children in such a marriage "belongs to the parents alone".
The Catholic Church requires a Catholic entering marriage, including an interchurch marriage, to promise to do what he/she can to have the children of the marriage brought up as Catholics.
In a foreword to "Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of Interchurch Marriages in the Diocese of Killaloe", Dr Willie Walsh, the Catholic bishop of the diocese, and the Right Rev Edward Darling, the Church of Ireland bishop, say they "acknowledge, with regret, that much hurt has been caused in the past to couples themselves and to their respective families by lack of co-operation between our churches".
Both praise work done on interchurch marriage by Bishop Brendan Comiskey of Ferns, and Bishop Noel Willoughby, retired Church of Ireland bishop of the same diocese.
The Killaloe document says that the first responsibility of Christian parents is to have their children baptised and brought up in the Christian faith and that the religious upbringing of the children is "a joint and equal responsibility of both partners".
The decision on religious upbringing "belongs to the parents alone", and the promise made by the Catholic partner "adds nothing to the basic obligation (of both partners) to pass on one's faith to one's children".
Each partner, it says, "is simply obliged to do what he/she can `within the unity of their partnership'." The primary concern, it says, "must always be the marriage partnership".
"Promises - formally undertaken or unspoken - must be subject to the greater good. It is therefore for each couple to make decisions in regard to the upbringing of their children."
The question of promises, it says, "still remains a serious irritation to the Church of Ireland and to those of other Protestant churches. It could be seen as an obstacle to better relations between the churches and it is certainly an unfair representation of the good relationship which we in the Republic of Ireland generally enjoy with each other."
