bi-religious couple

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sillymayonnaise

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If someone who is Roamn Catholic wanted to marry someone who is Greek Orthodox, would it be considered a sacrament? I thought that Catholics and Christians can marry in a church but it wouldn’t be considered one, and I was wondering if there was a distinction with Orthodoxy as well, or if they can’t get married in a Catholic church at all.

Thanks!
 
First, make sure you both have all your ducks in a row.

If you’re planning that he’ll go to his church and she’ll go to hers, which church will the children go to, if any?

How much involvement will the parent who doesn’t share the children’s religion be expected to have? Talk it out, and make sure it’s all on the table. Don’t wait until it’s time to baptize the baby to say, “Oh, by the way, I’ve decided that our children are to be raised Catholic.” If one partner has objections, lay them all out and discuss the issues one by one until everything is resolved.

When you’re both released from the hospital after the end of that discussion, and if you’re still thinking about marriage, then talk to priests in both religions and find out what all of your options are for the wedding.

Don’t end up like some families where the parents have to sneak the kids to Religion Classes because of the spouse’s objections. All this does is confuses the kids even more.
 
I’m a Roman Catholic married to a Greek Orthodox. We married in an Orthodox church. I received dispensations from marrying a Catholic and from marrying in a Catholic ceremony. In order to remain in good standing, a Greek Orthodox must marry in an Orthodox ceremony.

From the Catholic perspective, it’s a sacramental marriage.
 
proudnifi said:
I’m a Roman Catholic married to a Greek Orthodox. We married in an Orthodox church. I received dispensations from marrying a Catholic and from marrying in a Catholic ceremony. In order to remain in good standing, a Greek Orthodox must marry in an Orthodox ceremony.

From the Catholic perspective, it’s a sacramental marriage.
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Was the dispensation conditional upon you agreeing to raise your children as Catholics?
 
thistle said:
Was the dispensation conditional upon you agreeing to raise your children as Catholics?
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I’m in the process of getting a dispensation to marry a Jewish woman. I was explicitly told that I would not be required to promise to raise my children as Catholics, but only to do my best to try. Now this shouldn’t be interpreted as a free pass to raise non-Catholic children, which is of course not what I want. It simply means that, IF DESPITE ONE’S BEST EFFORTS, the children are not Catholic, the Catholic parent’s standing in the Church is not affected. My diocese is a little liberal, so I ran it by priests from 2 other somewhat conservative diocese (New York and Brooklyn), who confirmed that it was true. The writings on interfaith marriage from the USCCB also seem to confirm this.
 
thistle said:
Was the dispensation conditional upon you agreeing to raise your children as Catholics?
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As Fuerza wrote, it’s not an unconditional promise to raise the children as Catholics. Again, it’s not a free pass. It’s my understanding that the reason it’s not an all-out promise is that the marriage itself (once it exists) should not be destroyed by the issue. It’s still a serious/grave issue.

The Catholic’s faith is also to be considered. The Catholic can’t jeopardize his/her own faith as a result of the marriage.
 
jmcrae said:
First, make sure you both have all your ducks in a row.

If you’re planning that he’ll go to his church and she’ll go to hers, which church will the children go to, if any?

How much involvement will the parent who doesn’t share the children’s religion be expected to have? Talk it out, and make sure it’s all on the table. Don’t wait until it’s time to baptize the baby to say, “Oh, by the way, I’ve decided that our children are to be raised Catholic.” If one partner has objections, lay them all out and discuss the issues one by one until everything is resolved.

When you’re both released from the hospital after the end of that discussion, and if you’re still thinking about marriage, then talk to priests in both religions and find out what all of your options are for the wedding.

Don’t end up like some families where the parents have to sneak the kids to Religion Classes because of the spouse’s objections. All this does is confuses the kids even more.
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well really i was just asking because of a discussion between me and a friend of mine…haha i’m not engaged or anything. but thank you very much anyway 🙂 i appreciate the advice very much!
 
sillymayonnaise said:
If someone who is Roamn Catholic wanted to marry someone who is Greek Orthodox, would it be considered a sacrament? I thought that Catholics and Christians can marry in a church but it wouldn’t be considered one, and I was wondering if there was a distinction with Orthodoxy as well, or if they can’t get married in a Catholic church at all.

Thanks!
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If a Catholic marries a Christian of any sort in a Catholic Church (and my assumption is that it’s by the book so I’m skipping any exceptions) it would be a sacramental marriage. If a Catholic married a non-Christian, it would not be a sacramental marriage
 
bear06 said:
If a Catholic marries a Christian of any sort in a Catholic Church (and my assumption is that it’s by the book so I’m skipping any exceptions) it would be a sacramental marriage. If a Catholic married a non-Christian, it would not be a sacramental marriage
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That is true, however, the other Christian individual has to be a baptized Christian. A lifelong Salvation Army adherent would be considered a non-Christian (the Army doesn’t baptize). A Wiccan who was raised and baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church would be considered a Christian.
 
Kielbasi said:
That is true, however, the other Christian individual has to be a baptized Christian. A lifelong Salvation Army adherent would be considered a non-Christian (the Army doesn’t baptize). A Wiccan who was raised and baptized as an infant in the Presbyterian church would be considered a Christian.
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Yes. Thanks for making that clarification. I was going for Christian in the true sense of the word. Sorry.
 
The Catholic Church recognizes the Orthodox sacraments & priesthood as valid even though we are currently in schism, largely over papal authority. I would think that as long as both have the appropriate approvals from their own clergy they could marry in either church and it would be considered both valid and sacramental. I don’t know what the Orthodox Church’s stand on such is, so the Orthodox person would need to seek such information from his/her own priest.

The same is true for a Catholic marrying a baptized Protestant. In fact, you can marry a Baptist in a Baptist church validly and sacramentally so long as you get the appropriate dispensations from the Church beforehand. This is because, unlike the other sacraments, the sacrament of marriage is one the spouses bestow upon each other and the priest or deacon stands as witness. Of course, the Church would ask you to vow to do your best to raise the children Catholic, and your future spouse would need to be aware of this vow.The Catholic would also be expected to continue to live the Catholic faith, including attending Mass on Sundays, not using artificial birth control, and baptizing the children at the earliest opportunity. If the couple isn’t in agreement with this arrangment, you would have some things to discuss before marrying, I would think.
 
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