Am I really married?

[dympnha]

My husband’s family are Baptists. 17 years ago we were married in a Catholic church. I was assured by his family that my husband was baptized and when I contacted the family church they sent what looked like a baptism certificate to my church. We lived happily ever after and eventually my husband went to RCIA and was confirmed this Easter. We had the records of his baptism sent to the RCIA director and everything was fine.

This weekend a family member of my husband’s informed me that he wasn’t baptized, he was** dedicated ** as an infant. Apparently some Baptist denominations have a ceremony where the baby is held by a godparent, annointed and prayed over and “given back” to God but it’s not a true baptism.

So, am I married or not? Is my husband’s confirmation valid or not. I’m going to make an appointment with our pastor next week but needless to say this Thanksgiving weekend has been a nightmare. Have we lived in a state of sin for the last 17 years? Do we have be married again? Does my husband have be confirmed again?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear d,

Rest assured, you are validly married—and would be even if your husband had not been baptized. However, for the marriage to be sacramental, both parties must have been baptized. By the time your husband made his profession of faith as a Catholic and was confirmed, he had what the Church calls, baptism of desire. However, now that he knows for sure that he was not baptized, he needs to be baptized and he needs to be confirmed again.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.