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Phemie
Guest
We are Catholic and thus bound to obey the Church. The Church has, for several hundred years, decreed that the marriage of Catholics must be celebrated according to a specific form to be valid (or that, for a good reason, a dispensation from form be obtained). She has never said that the marriages of Catholics celebrated civilly prior to that decree were invalid or that the marriages of non-Catholics must follow the Catholic Church’s rules.
The original requirement for canonical form was brought in to protect women from being abandoned when their husbands denied having married them.
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Horton
Guest
Making a huge assumption here based on your stated religious affiliation. I’m assuming your spouse is Catholic and you were married outside the Church. Your spouse had the obligation to marry in the Church or seek a dispensation. If neither of those things happened then yes, the marriage is invalid.
As long as there are no impediments, your marriage can be convalidated easily by your priest. Another poster gave you the answer to why it does make sense.
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jimsnew
Guest
That isn’t exactly the case. I was married before, obviously non-Catholic. If I had been Catholic, it would have been no problem to get it declared invalid. Instead, I have been waiting for over six months, been through RCIA. still have no idea if anything will happen, or when. I spent years agonizing over the decision to do this, and now it very well may have just been time spent that I can’t get back and likely may never be allowed to join the Church after making my decision. In my heart I know there are several reasons that my previous marriage was invalid (not being open to children among other things) but because I may have not been able to prove it administratively, I may be left out. Writing a 15 page typewritten recap of the worst part of your life, dredging up things you wish you could forget, taking classes one night a week after working 12 hours for 7 months, then I’m possibly left with nothing. I’ve accepted the faith completely, prayed several times a day, but may still be abandoned by the Church, which hasn’t exactly left me with that warm and fuzzy feeling.
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FrDavid96
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Here is the reason why:
What “makes” a marriage happen is the exchange of consent between the two parties.
In the case of Catholics, that exchange of consent must be witnessed by the Church (usually that means a priest or deacon, but can be a layperson is certain circumstances).
This is important: it is a matter of the Church’s discipline (ie laws) that the consent must be witnessed by the Church—it’s not a matter of Divine Law. That is a human law and it can be changed. Indeed, the law is relatively new (only a few centuries
) It can also change by circumstances. If there are only 2 Catholics living in a very remote place, they can actually marry each other in the presence of witnesses alone (who should be, but are not required to be Catholic).The point is that the exchange of consent must happen, while doing so in the presence of the Church’s minister is something that should happen, but if that’s not possible, the marriage is still valid and sacramental.
In the case of Protestants, it’s usually not possible (or practical) to have a minister of the Church witness their consent. Yes, they might have access to a Protestant minister, but in the end, he is no different than any other layperson. So, to put that into other words, 2 Protestants exchanging consent in front of a Protestant minister is really no different than exchanging consent in front of a Justice of the Peace–since neither is ordained, and neither is a minister of the Church (note the capital C there).
If two Catholics attempt marriage without a minister of the Church (assuming that’s possible), then those Catholics are, by their actions and by their own choice, rejecting the assistance of the Church in their lives.
That’s a long way of explaining why 2 Catholics who marry in front of a Justice of the Peace. are not validly married, while 2 Protestants who marry in front of a JP are validly married.
With regard to the Orthodox, because they are true Churches, the Catholic Church recognizes their canon laws as binding on them. Their laws require that a priest must perform (not witness, but perform) the marriage; therefore if they aren’t married according to their own laws, neither the Catholic nor the respective Orthodox Church considers such as a valid marriage.
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FrDavid96
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First, continue to work with your Catholic pastor. Having said that, if you have not already done so, either the Pauline or Petrine Privilege might (I say might) be an option to consider. I don’t know if it would apply, but based strictly on what you’ve already posted, those are avenues that I would consider. I’ll caution you that they might not apply. I merely suggest that you ask about them.
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1ke
Guest
This is where you go awry. If you had been Catholic, what makes you think you would not have married in Catholic form or asked for a dispensation?
You act as if nothing would have been different had you been raised in the Catholic faith. But many things would have been different. Your marriage among them.
So it’s a false comparison to say that if you’d been Catholic your marriage would automatically be invalid, you don’t know this.
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twf
Guest
As others have noted the Orthodox are true Churches with bishops in apostolic succession. Their laws are binding on the Orthodox. Protestants lack apostolic succession. Their leaders cannot “bind and loose”. A Protestant church could declare that all valid marriages must be contracted using a particular form, but this would have no bearing on whether the marriage was valid from a Catholic perspective (unless somehow intent entered in… A devout Protestant believed there to be a defect but went ahead with it anyway… Maybe that would be something for the tribunal to look at).
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Horton
Guest
My apologies for my assumption. I know the process can be brutal. I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind. Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business if you don’t want to answer. Did you submit your petition to the tribunal while in RCIA and are still waiting for a decision? Typically those in RCIA get pushed to the front of the line, so to speak, in an effort to have a marriage case decided prior to the Easter Vigil. Are you currently married? If not, having a previous marriage does not prevent you from coming into the Church. I was confirmed before a decision was made in my case but I wasn’t married or living in an irregular situation at the time.
I will pray you get a decision soon. God is infinite in His mercy and will never abandon you.
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