A spokesman for Ireland’s Catholic Bishops has said the Irish Church may be forced to end the practice of civil registration of marriages conducted in churches if the same-sex marriage referendum passes.

Speaking to The Irish Times newspaper, Martin Long of the Catholic Communications Office said: “If the referendum is passed the Church’s view and the State’s view of marriage will be radically different. It’s reasonable that the bishops may decide to separate the two.”

Mr Long’s words were a restating of the bishops’ own warning on the issue of marriage redefinition contained in their submission to the 2013 Constitutional Convention when they stated that any such change to the understanding of marriage as that between one man and one woman would mean the Irish Church could no longer co-operate with the civil aspect of marriage.

“This was the last public authoritative intervention,” Mr Long said. “Nothing has changed since then.”

In effect, such a move would mean that the current practice of a couple newly married in a church and the officiating priest signing the Marriage Registration Form at the end of the wedding ceremony would not take place, and the couple would be required to undertake that signing elsewhere in order to secure State recognition of their marriage.

“The priest acts as the solemniser of the marriage between a woman and a man. Obviously if the definition of marriage changes then this role will change,” Mr Long explained.