Attending a Non-Catholic Wedding

[1ke]

To say a marriage outside the RCC is not valid, well is a man made rule or a church rule.

That isn’t what has been said here. Two non-Catholics marry validly when they marry each other. However, one of the parties is Catholic. He is not free to marry without following the canon law of the Church.

 

[Bookcat]

Ones a Protestant and ones a Catholic, both are still Christians, and belong to the body of Christ. To say a marriage outside the RCC is not valid, well is a man made rule or a church rule.

Yes it is…one made by those in authority by God to make such.

This “rule” is concerning those who are Catholic. The Church presumes the marriages of (unmarried) persons outside the Church (of opposite gender one must add today) are in fact marriages. Church law in this regards is directed towards those who are Catholic.

(ps please use the term “Catholic Church” not RCC for the Church is not just the Roman Church/rite)

 

[Luvtosew]

That isn’t what has been said here. Two non-Catholics marry validly when they marry each other. However, one of the parties is Catholic. He is not free to marry without following the canon law of the Church.

Yes and thats a Church rule, but they are both Christians and are in the body of Christ. It shouldn’t matter one is a Catholic.

 

[Bookcat]

Truth with charity (and prudence)

 

[1ke]

Yes and thats a Church rule, but they are both Christians and are in the body of Christ. It shouldn’t matter one is a Catholic.

But it does.

The Catholic is obligated to be obedient to the lawful authority over him-- his Bishop.

 

[Luvtosew]

Yes I’m aware of the rule, but to say they are , or just he is commiting a mortal sin and adultry is hard to swallow, since Christ is a witness to their marriage, Christ is not only in the CC.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

Here are some links:

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=167154

cuf.org/faithfacts/details_view.asp?ffID=137

Hope they are helpful.

 

[agapewolf]

Yes and thats a Church rule, but they are both Christians and are in the body of Christ. It shouldn’t matter one is a Catholic.

AHHH…

its like you didn’t even read what I wrote.

I am a citizen of Missouri. I am bound to follow the laws of Missouri. If I don’t follow the laws of missouri in getting married, it isn’t valid.

A person from indiana does not have to follow the laws of missouri when they get married, they follow the laws of indiana.

Why is it so hard to understand that Catholics have to follow the Catholic rules, or their marriage isn’t valid. it is so simple

 

[Bookcat]

Yes I’m aware of the rule, but to say they are , or just he is commiting a mortal sin and adultry is hard to swallow, since Christ is a witness to their marriage, Christ is not only in the CC.

Christ has given the Church the authority to bind and loose etc.

It is not that “Christ is the witness to their marriage” here for the one party is bound (by Christ via the Church) to observe Catholic Form. He can get a dispensation too of course.

 

[Mary_Gail_36]

AHHH…

its like you didn’t even read what I wrote.

I am a citizen of Missouri. I am bound to follow the laws of Missouri. If I don’t follow the laws of missouri in getting married, it isn’t valid.

A person from indiana does not have to follow the laws of missouri when they get married, they follow the laws of indiana.

Why is it so hard to understand that Catholics have to follow the Catholic rules, or their marriage isn’t valid. it is so simple

I’m not sure this the best comparison…if you went to Indiana from Missouri to get married, it would be valid and recognized in all the States.

You don’t need to only marry in Missouri, if you marry in Indiana it 's still valid.

A Catholic must marry in the Church to be valid.

For the OP, his friend is Protestant, the future wife is Catholic.

Does he know absolutely certainly that the proper dispensations haven’t been given?

 

[Bookcat]

I’m not sure this the best comparison…if you went to Indiana from Missouri to get married, it would be valid and recognized in all the States.

You don’t need to only marry in Missouri, if you marry in Indiana it 's still valid.

A Catholic must marry in the Church to be valid.

Yes analogies limp

But I think the jist there helps.

 

[Luvtosew]

Thats the way it is in every state, but that has nothing to do with Gods’ law which is marriage is good between like believers in Christ. I do hope the Catholic’s mans’ family will be attending his wedding and I’m sure they probably will be. I tend to have a problem with the marriage laws in the Church, not that I take marriage lightly, no not at all, its a lifetime commitment no matter where one gets married and God said that.

I seen someone here who is Catholic and her husband is methodist and they are separated and she was told all she needs to do is go to confession and that her marriage is not valid, no talk about not getting a divorce, or anything, and to say a marriage done in the eyes of God is not valid, and to say she just needs to go to confession does not mean she was never married in the eyes of God. He sees everything we do and is everywhere.

And then two RC’s get married and get a divorce and are not able to get an annulment and then they need to never date and nor remarry , and if they do they are not allowed to receive the sacraments,

I don’t know I think the Op should talk to her Priest about this.

 

[Luvtosew]

Christ has given the Church the authority to bind and loose etc.

It is not that “Christ is the witness to their marriage” here for the one party is bound (by Christ via the Church) to observe Catholic Form. He can get a dispensation too of course.

The Church is all Christian Churches not just the RCC.

 

[Bookcat]

Catechism:

III. MATRIMONIAL CONSENT

1625 The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage, who freely express their consent; “to be free” means:

• not being under constraint;
• not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical law.

1626 The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that "makes the marriage."127 If consent is lacking there is no marriage.

1627 The consent consists in a “human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other”: “I take you to be my wife” - "I take you to be my husband."128 This consent that binds the spouses to each other finds its fulfillment in the two "becoming one flesh."129

1628 The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external fear.130 No human power can substitute for this consent.131 If this freedom is lacking the marriage is invalid.

1629 For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed.132 In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged.133

1630 The priest (or deacon) who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives the blessing of the Church. The presence of the Church’s minister (and also of the witnesses) visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial reality.

**1631 This is the reason why the Church normally requires that the faithful contract marriage according to the ecclesiastical form. Several reasons converge to explain this requirement:134

• Sacramental marriage is a liturgical act. It is therefore appropriate that it should be celebrated in the public liturgy of the Church;
• Marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order, and creates rights and duties in the Church between the spouses and towards their children;
• Since marriage is a state of life in the Church, certainty about it is necessary (hence the obligation to have witnesses);
• The public character of the consent protects the “I do” once given and helps the spouses remain faithful to it. **

scborromeo.org/ccc/ccc_toc.htm

 

[englishredrose]

You go to the wedding and give them a gift.

You don’t go to the wedding and you don’t give them a gift.

Those are the two choices you have. There are other choices ie you don’t go to the wedding and you do give them a gift. etc

I actually don’t see the problems the other posters are posting here. The wedding is Legal from the opening post. But quite why he hasn’t time to get married in church before he goes away, I don’t understand that one but there again I am not in his parish.

I would just say, go to the wedding if its not illegal. Roman Catholics attend non Roman Catholic Weddings all the time.

What denomination is the protestant - for they may well actually be catholic. Just not Roman Catholic. People get so mixed up on these boards

 

[1ke]

The Church is all Christian Churches not just the RCC.

Your view of “the church” and the Catholic Church’s view of “the Church” are substantially different, and mostly incompatible.

The OP came to a Catholic board and specifically asked for the Catholic teaching on this matter, not for “people’s opinions” on the matter. And, not for views on the subject incompatible with Church teaching.

I think you need to respect that and start your own thread about the Church, authority, marriage, or whatever.

 

[Bookcat]

What denomination is the protestant - for they may well actually be catholic. Just not Roman Catholic. People get so mixed up on these boards

I understand your an Anglican and your view is different here (as well as your approach to marriages) coming from Anglicanism.

Here is what we mean (Catechism):

III. THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC

What does “catholic” mean?

830 The word “catholic” means “universal,” in the sense of “according to the totality” or “in keeping with the whole.” The Church is catholic in a double sense:

First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. "Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church."307 In her subsists the fullness of Christ’s body united with its head; this implies that she receives from him "the fullness of the means of salvation"308 which he has willed: correct and complete confession of faith, full sacramental life, and ordained ministry in apostolic succession. The Church was, in this fundamental sense, catholic on the day of Pentecost309 and will always be so until the day of the Parousia.

831 Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race:310

All men are called to belong to the new People of God. This People, therefore, while remaining one and only one, is to be spread throughout the whole world and to all ages in order that the design of God's will may be fulfilled: he made human nature one in the beginning and has decreed that all his children who were scattered should be finally gathered together as one. . . . The character of universality which adorns the People of God is a gift from the Lord himself whereby the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods, under Christ the Head in the unity of his Spirit.311

Each particular Church is “catholic”

832 "The Church of Christ is really present in all legitimately organized local groups of the faithful, which, in so far as they are united to their pastors, are also quite appropriately called Churches in the New Testament. . . . In them the faithful are gathered together through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ, and the mystery of the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. . . . In these communities, though they may often be small and poor, or existing in the diaspora, Christ is present, through whose power and influence the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church is constituted."312

833 The phrase “particular Church,” which is first of all the diocese (or eparchy), refers to a community of the Christian faithful in communion of faith and sacraments with their bishop ordained in apostolic succession.313 These particular Churches "are constituted after the model of the universal Church; it is in these and formed out of them that the one and unique Catholic Church exists."314

834 Particular Churches are fully catholic through their communion with one of them, the Church of Rome "which presides in charity."315 "For with this church, by reason of its pre-eminence, the whole Church, that is the faithful everywhere, must necessarily be in accord."316 Indeed, "from the incarnate Word’s descent to us, all Christian churches everywhere have held and hold the great Church that is here [at Rome] to be their only basis and foundation since, according to the Savior’s promise, the gates of hell have never prevailed against her."317

835 "Let us be very careful not to conceive of the universal Church as the simple sum, or . . . the more or less anomalous federation of essentially different particular churches. In the mind of the Lord the Church is universal by vocation and mission, but when she put down her roots in a variety of cultural, social, and human terrains, she takes on different external expressions and appearances in each part of the world."318 The rich variety of ecclesiastical disciplines, liturgical rites, and theological and spiritual heritages proper to the local churches "unified in a common effort, shows all the more resplendently the catholicity of the undivided Church."319

Who belongs to the Catholic Church?

836 "All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God. . . . And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation."320

837 "Fully incorporated into the society of the Church are those who, possessing the Spirit of Christ, accept all the means of salvation given to the Church together with her entire organization, and who - by the bonds constituted by the profession of faith, the sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and communion - are joined in the visible structure of the Church of Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. Even though incorporated into the Church, one who does not however persevere in charity is not saved. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but ‘in body’ not ‘in heart.’"321

838 "The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter."322 Those "who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church."323 With the Orthodox Churches, this communion is so profound "that it lacks little to attain the fullness that would permit a common celebration of the Lord’s Eucharist."324

 

[Anna_Claire]

If both are free to marry (neither one has a previous marriage, for example) and they were married before a minister,judge, JP, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a true, valid marriage.

 

[Windmill]

Anna,

Not if one of the parties is Catholic.

 

[1ke]

If both are free to marry (neither one has a previous marriage, for example) and they were married before a minister,judge, JP, the Catholic Church recognizes this as a true, valid marriage.

This is true of non-catholics.

Please go back and re-read the OP. One of the parties IS Catholic. Therefore, what you state above is not correct.