Index: org/exolab/castor/xml/UnmarshalHandler.java
===================================================================
--- org/exolab/castor/xml/UnmarshalHandler.java	(Revision 7055)
+++ org/exolab/castor/xml/UnmarshalHandler.java	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@
                 ValidationException last = null;
                 
                 //-- check unresolved references
-                if (_resolveTable != null) {
+                if (_resolveTable != null && !_config.getLenientIdValidation()) {
                     Enumeration enumeration = _resolveTable.keys();
                     while (enumeration.hasMoreElements()) {
                         Object ref = enumeration.nextElement();
Index: org/exolab/castor/xml/FieldValidator.java
===================================================================
--- org/exolab/castor/xml/FieldValidator.java	(Revision 7055)
+++ org/exolab/castor/xml/FieldValidator.java	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -193,6 +193,13 @@
             if (!_descriptor.isRequired() || _descriptor.isNillable()) {
                 return;
             }
+            // deal with lenient id/idref validation accordingly, skipping exception handling
+            // in this case
+            if (_descriptor.isRequired() 
+                    && _descriptor.getSchemaType().equals("IDREF") 
+                    && context.getConfiguration().getLenientIdValidation()) {
+                return;
+            }
             StringBuffer buff = new StringBuffer();
             buff.append("The field '" + _descriptor.getFieldName() + "' ");
             if (!ERROR_NAME.equals(_descriptor.getXMLName())) {