Best man at a Catholic Wedding

[Elijah_Bellman]

Just wondered whether a best man at a Catholic wedding can be a non Catholic Christian?

 

[Philip76]

Mine was, so I assume they can. They really only have to stand there and sign the papers. And the papers are a legal requirement anyway, not a Church thing.

 

[BillP]

Not only can the best “man” be a non-Catholic, they can also be a female. My best man was forced to cancel two days before the wedding so I asked one of my oldest and dearest friends, who happened to be a Methodist woman, to take up the slack.

At first the priest wasn’t sure this was permitted, but he called the Diocese, and the Bishop said there was no porblem with it.

 

[asquared]

the person who is the witness who will be signing the papers has to be a Catholic, but he could be anyone who witnesses the exchange of vows, not necessarily the guy in the tux standing next to the groom. This is something to bring up at your first session with the priest or deacon when making your marraige arrangements.

 

[BlestOne]

For my wedding the requirement was a confirmed Catholic…Although they did allow my daughter to even though she isn’t confirmed yet since she goes to Catholic School and is very serious about her religion studies. I do know that the priest had to ask the bishop and let him know that she understands the responsibilities of being a Catholic. I would look a little closer to your church home for a best man, but that is just my opinion.

 

[JGheen]

asquared:

the person who is the witness who will be signing the papers has to be a Catholic, but he could be anyone who witnesses the exchange of vows, not necessarily the guy in the tux standing next to the groom. This is something to bring up at your first session with the priest or deacon when making your marraige arrangements.

When I was married two years ago, our best man (my DH’s brother) was not Catholic and signed the marriage certificate. Since my DH’s side was not practicing Catholic, we asked the priests who could participate in various roles and I vaguely remember him saying one of the witnesses had to be Catholic, but that was it. We also had non-Catholic lectors, which the priest said was fine.

(Only the priest distributed communion at our wedding. But of course, we would only have allowed trained EM’s to assist him, if needed. I’ve been at weddings where non-Catholics distributed communion and that seemed highly scandelous to me.)