Religion: Unreasonable Parents

Angry with his about-to-be-married 18-year-old daughter and vexed at Roman Catholic Church authorities who refused to block the ceremony, Dr. Joseph A. Porcello went quietly berserk. Near his home in Pleasantville, N.Y., a town of seemly zoning restrictions and well-barbered lawns, the obstetrician found four rocks stowed them in his medical bag. Then he headed grimly for Manhattan.

There, in the shadowed quiet of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dr. Porcello flung the rocks at a stained-glass window. He missed, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Later he learned that his daughter's marriage to her 30-year-old, former prep school English teacher had taken place three hours before Porcello, a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, and his Roman Catholic wife hadn't objected to their daughter's choice, merely wanted her to wait until she was older. Last week, in New York Magistrate's court, contrite Dr. Porcello ("I am glad that I did not hit a window; the hand of God prevented that") received a suspended sentence. He also learned a lesson in church law: the church may permit priests to marry minors despite their parents' objections if these objections are considered "gravely unreasonable."