Archdiocese of Birmingham – Office for Marriage Privacy Notice 

The Information which you provide on the pre-nuptial inquiry form will be handled by the Archdiocese of Birmingham as set out in its privacy policy on its website and in accordance with this Notice.

Your personal data is kept by the Office for Marriage of the Archdiocese of Birmingham until the date of your wedding, after which it is deleted, but the record of any permissions or dispensations granted is kept.

Following the Catholic marriage, the following details are entered into the Catholic Marriage Register: the names of the spouses, the person who assisted and the witnesses, the place and the date of the marriage.

Where either or both parties are Catholic these details are sent to the parish of their Baptism/Reception and a record is made of the marriage in either the Baptism Register or the Register of Receptions of Baptised Christians.

Entries are also made into the civil registers, the data protection of which is regulated by the General Registrar’s Office. Personal data is shared outside of the European Economic Area where marriages take place outside the European Economic Area or Baptism or Reception took place outside the European Economic Area.

Catholic Marriage Registers, Baptismal Registers and Registers of Receptions of Baptised Christians are retained indefinitely.

The legal basis for processing this personal data is that it is necessary in the legitimate interests of the Church to do so. Some of the information retained is special category information because it reveals your religion.

This processing of that personal data is a legitimate activity of the Church and relates to members or former members of the Church (or to persons who have regular contact with it) in connection with its purpose, this includes non-Catholics marrying Catholics.

The reason for the processing is that the Church needs to know who it has married. The privacy impact on you caused by this processing of your personal data is minimal because it is kept securely and will be provided only to the parties to the marriage on proof of identity.


Fr Ray Corbett, Archbishop’s Delegate for Marriage
Mrs Clare O’Brien, Diocesan Solicitor
September 2018