Are Protestant weddings valid?

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Does God approve of Protestant Weddings? Does he accept them?
 
Yes, a protestant wedding, that is, a wedding between two protestants, is considered valid.
 
Most certainly. They didn’t make my wife and I get “remarried” once we became Catholic. When I applied for diaconal formation the Judicial Vicar confirmed that fact (not that it was ever in doubt for me - just nice to have someone in an official position confirm it).
 
God doesn’t go on whether one is Catholic or Protestant. A marriage between one man and one woman who believe in Him and are united in Him, is valid.
 
lilypadrees said:
God doesn’t go on whether one is Catholic or Protestant. A marriage between one man and one woman who believe in Him and are united in Him, is valid.
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That said, a Catholic is bound by canonical form, meaning they must either marry in a Catholic ceremony or receive a dispensation, otherwise the marriage is not valid.
 
My father was Catholic and my mother was Protestant at the time they wed. They had two ceremonies, one in her hometown church and the other in the Catholic Church.
 
I would just add that the universal characteristic of this sacrament is due to it’s establishment at the beginning and that Jesus confirmed it.
 
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lilypadrees said:
My father was Catholic and my mother was Protestant at the time they wed. They had two ceremonies, one in her hometown church and the other in the Catholic Church.
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So was the Protestant minister the one that signed the marriage certificate? I know when some did this that a convalidation marriage occurred in the Catholic Church.
 
Vico said:
My father was Catholic and my mother was Protestant at the time they wed. They had two ceremonies, one in her hometown church and the other in the Catholic Church.

So was the Protestant minister the one that signed the marriage certificate? I know when some did this that a convalidation marriage occurred in the Catholic Church.
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According to my mother, the pastor of her hometown church signed the certificate for the Protestant ceremony. The priest signed the certificate for the Catholic ceremony which came after Mama met with the priest. Daddy was in the military and was about to go to war. The Methodist ceremony came first since the requirements to be met for my mother to be married in the Catholic Church would’ve taken too long. And of course, my mother lived in the South while my father lived on the West Coast. There weren’t any Catholic Churches in her hometown. Still aren’t.
 
lilypadrees said:
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Vico:
My father was Catholic and my mother was Protestant at the time they wed. They had two ceremonies, one in her hometown church and the other in the Catholic Church.

So was the Protestant minister the one that signed the marriage certificate? I know when some did this that a convalidation marriage occurred in the Catholic Church.
Click to expand...
According to my mother, the pastor of her hometown church signed the certificate for the Protestant ceremony. The priest signed the certificate for the Catholic ceremony which came after Mama met with the priest. Daddy was in the military and was about to go to war. The Methodist ceremony came first since the requirements to be met for my mother to be married in the Catholic Church would’ve taken too long. And of course, my mother lived in the South while my father lived on the West Coast. There weren’t any Catholic Churches in her hometown. Still aren’t.
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That is interesting, thank you, and I did not think about the marriage certificate from each minister, really I was thinking that there is a civil marriage license that is signed only once, so it would be from the Methodist minister. Maybe at that time the process was different than today.
 
BlackFriar said:
What is the process today?
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A Catholic marriage can have only one celebration.

CIC Can. 1127
§1. The prescripts of can. 1108 are to be observed for the form to be used in a mixed marriage.

Nevertheless, if a Catholic party contracts marriage with a non-Catholic party of an Eastern rite, the canonical form of the celebration must be observed for liceity only; for validity, however, the presence of a sacred minister is required and the other requirements of law are to be observed.

§2. If grave difficulties hinder the observance of canonical form, the local ordinary of the Catholic party has the right of dispensing from the form in individual cases, after having consulted the ordinary of the place in which the marriage is celebrated and with some public form of celebration for validity. It is for the conference of bishops to establish norms by which the aforementioned dispensation is to be granted in a uniform manner.

§3. It is forbidden to have another religious celebration of the same marriage to give or renew matrimonial consent before or after the canonical celebration according to the norm of §1. Likewise, there is not to be a religious celebration in which the Catholic who is assisting and a non-Catholic minister together, using their own rites, ask for the consent of the parties.
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It doesnt really say it can only have one celebration does it?
It could have two different ceremonies provided there is only one exchange of consent…and that be the valid one in the eyes of the Church.

This is usually only possible in cases of disparity of cult.
I have arranged a number where there are two ceremonies in mixed Euro Chinese marriages. The Euro one is the valid Catholic ceremony. Then they often go back to the girls country for the equivalent Buddhist or Taoist one in their hometown Asian country. I used to advise them only one ceremony is allowed. I probably wouldnt do that now…so long as there is no overtly Euro style asking of consent.

But then I am speaking of the marriages of Catholic, not an abstract “Catholic Marriage” 🙂.
 
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If the protestants are free to marry and give free consent, sure!
 
BlackFriar said:
It doesnt really say it can only have one celebration does it?
It could have two different ceremonies provided there is only one exchange of consent…and that be the valid one in the eyes of the Church.

This is usually only possible in cases of disparity of cult.
I have arranged a number where there are two ceremonies in mixed Euro Chinese marriages. The Euro one is the valid Catholic ceremony. Then they often go back to the girls country for the equivalent Buddhist or Taoist one in their hometown Asian country. I used to advise them only one ceremony is allowed. I probably wouldnt do that now…so long as there is no overtly Euro style asking of consent
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One should not give the appearance of giving consent twice either for it could give scandal.
 
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