A Catholic marrying an unbaptized person

[onaquest]

I have developed feelings for a man who is not baptized. He is not closed to the Catholic Church he is willing to attend mass with me and we also go to his Christian church. He is searching for a relationship with God. But as of yet he is unbaptized and may remain so. What would this mean if we were to marry?

 

[1ke]

A Catholic may not marry an unbaptized person unles they have a dispensation from disparity of cult from the Bishop.

A Catholic would have to marry in the Catholic form unless they got a dispensation for that as well.

If he were to be baptized in a non-Catholic faith, you would still need permission to marry a non-Catholic Christian, and would still have to be married in the Catholic form or dispensed from it.

A Catholic must promise to raise their children Catholic, and the non-Catholic must be told of this promise. The Catholic must be able to show that there is no danger to the practice of their faith and no danger of them leaving the faith.

This would all be covered in marriage preparation. If you wanted to pursue marriage, the priest would help you with the necessary dispensations.

I urge you to consider the very serious obstacles involved in marrying a non-Catholic. The purpose of marriage is to sanctify the spouses and raise up children in the faith. It is very hard to establish a Catholic household if one parent is not Catholic.

 

[lizaanne]

From this book: Annulment: The Marriage That Was

You must first receive a dispensation from the impediment of disparity of cult. The dispensation is required if the marriage is to be recognized as valid in the Church. Keep in mind that for a Christian marriage, both ministers (the bride and groom) are to be baptized Christians. When one of the parties is unbaptized, a dispensation from disparity of cult is required, and the resulting marriage is nonsacramental. It is a good and natural marriage, but since it is nonsacramental it lacks the “particular firmness” of a Christian marriage.

This is only a small bit about this topic - I suggest you buy this book to understand what constitutes a valid and sacramental marriage. It may be about the Annulment process, but it has excellent information that may help you.

~Liza

 

[onaquest]

Thank you—I am praying for his conversion and we are in no hurry.