Am I Married In The Eyes Of The Church?

[Lucania]

My Husband & I were married in the Episcopal Church almost 34 years ago. In 1995 I became a Catholic & he joined in 2000. My question is, were we supposed to have some type of marriage ceremony after we became Catholic? Is our marriage valid in the eyes of the Church? Our Priest at the time never mentioned anything of the sort, but someone recently asked me about that & now it makes me wonder . I know of a couple who has the same circumstances & their Priest married them in the Church.

 

[Sillara]

Were either you or your husband married before? (I mean to other people.) Were either of you baptized Catholic at the time?

If the answer to both those questions is no, then you have nothing to do. You are validly and sacramentally married.

(My husband and I were both converts from Protestantism, too. It is our first marriage, and neither of us were baptized Catholic–thereby putting us under obligation to marry in the Church–at the time. All clear!)

 

[Lucania]

Were either you or your husband married before? (I mean to other people.) Were either of you baptized Catholic at the time?

If the answer to both those questions is no, then you have nothing to do. You are validly and sacramentally married.

(My husband and I were both converts from Protestantism, too. It is our first marriage, and neither of us were baptized Catholic–thereby putting us under obligation to marry in the Church–at the time. All clear!)

No. Neither of us were married before, nor baptized Catholics. We are thinking of renewing our vows maybe next year on our 35th, so I guess that would make it valid in the Church if it wasn’t already. Thanks for your response, that put my mind at ease.

 

[Sillara]

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary!

And, don’t worry. Everything is fine. The Church recognizes the marriages between non-Catholics (barring other things like previous marriages!) as perfectly valid!