Church: Local Couple Not “Prepared” To Marry
Is an adult with an "intellectual disability" fit to marry? More specifically, is she capable of "freely choosing" marriage...That, apparently, is the issue facing a local couple. Both Justin Neis and Anna Bankes have disabilities — Neis is physically disabled, and Bankes has intellectual disabilities and has been tested at the development of about a person of 15.
Neis, a Mandan native and a lifelong Catholic, wanted very much to marry at his church, Spirit of Life in Mandan, but the Rev. Chris Kadrmas, a pastor there, has told the couple that he feels they are not prepared to be married at this time (the couple currently plan a July wedding at Mandan United Methodist Church).
More on the controversy here from the Bismarck Tribune.