Can 2 orthodox christians get married in a catholic church?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hasmik
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
H

Hasmik

Guest
I am Armenian orthodox and my spouse is ukrainian. We are getting married in April but as we live in Sorrento in Italy there is no orthodox church! Catholicism is similar to eastern orthodoxy and a catholic priest has already given us permission to marry in his cathedral. We just do not want to do something offensive to catholics as they are brothers and sisters of the orthodox church. Would you find it wrong if 2 orthodox christians got married in a catholic church?
 
I think the problem is not on the Catholic side but on the Orthodox side. In Orthodoxy the priest is the minister of the sacrament, so you need an Orthodox priest to have a valid marriage. In Catholicism the couple are the ministers of the sacrament so there are more options for a valid marriage. Have you spoken with an Orthodox priest about your plans?
 
oThank you for your reply 🙂 unfortunately we do not have an orthodox priest in our city, we only moved to italy from moscow 1 year ago. My spouse’s uncle is a priest in ukraine and he has consulted his priest friends who all think it is ok. We just do not want to be offensive and disrespectful to catholics in our new home of
 
It would not be at all offensive to Catholics. The only question is whether your Orthodox Church would recognize the validity of the ceremony.
 
Thank you i appreciate your kind reply :blush:The question of orthodoxy is not so much a problem, we can go back to our home country to make it validated. It’s mainly because many of our extended families live in Italy so would be difficult to fly many people over to another country
 
It sounds like the OP has some options then. That’s good to hear. I worry when people say they know they’re doing it wrong and it won’t be a valid marriage but they’ll take care of it later. How much better to start off right! OP, have you checked the possibilities in Naples?
 
Hasmik said:
I am Armenian orthodox and my spouse is ukrainian.
Click to expand...
Right away there is an item. To clarify then, you are Oriental Orthodox not in communion with Ukrainian Eastern Orthodox, Moscow Patriachate? Is you wife in communion with the Ukrainian Eastern Catholic Church, or one of the Ukrainian Orthodox Churches? Which one would that be. Would it be the Kiev Patriarchate or the Moscow Patriarchate?
IMHO, it would be better to find an Orthodox Church close by and to get married there.
 
And where will you be attending church afterwards?

I can’t speak for italian RC, but here in the US, it is quite common to have Orthodox parishioners at Eastern Catholic churches, with varying degrees of approval and disapproval from their own churches . . .

hawk
 
dochawk said:
here in the US, it is quite common to have Orthodox parishioners at Eastern Catholic churches, with varying degrees of approval and disapproval from their own churches . . .
Click to expand...
I am somewhat surprised to know that there is an Eastern Orthodox Church which would approve of their parishioners attending an Eastern Catholic church on a regular basis.
 
I think the East would say that the couple’s consent is required, but it is still the priest who confers the sacrament. Perhaps much like a penitent’s contrition is required to receive the sacrament of penance, yet it is still the priest who confers the sacrament.
 
From perusing the Wikipedia article on the subject, it seems that the couple gives their consent during a betrothal ceremony outside the church before the actual wedding ceremony begins. Since it is God who joins the couple together, maybe they see the priest as being in persona Christi during the wedding and joining the couple together? The article didn’t really touch on this point.
 
Having the marriage ceremony done in a Catholic church building needs the permission of the priest of the church building. How about asking an Orthodox priest to come to Sorrento and borrow the church the priest offered you? If both of you are Orthodox then the ceremony should be the Orthodox ritual unless the closest priest/bishop gives you permission to marry in a Catholic marriage rite if I am correct. Call the closest Orthodox priest and as what you should be doing. Priests travel long distances to celebrate the sacraments. 400 kilometres is not unusual if the parish is large.
 
AlNg said:
I am somewhat surprised to know that there is an Eastern Orthodox Church which would approve of their parishioners attending an Eastern Catholic church on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
Not all EC and EO are “all in” pm the schism. There are EC/EO pairs in which casual transition and intercommunion are the norm, although not publicly stated.

You’re up against both canon law and ancient theology claiming this; it is just plain wrong.

So much so, in fact, that an eastern catholic who marries before a deacon as an auto-annulment in a tribunal. The system actually got swamped with this a few years ago.

There is no way around the fact that the priest, not the couple, is the minister of the sacrament of matrimony for both EC and EO, and no amount of attempting to explain from a western perspective will change this.

hawk
 
An Orthodox priest is absolutely essential for Orthodox marriage.

There are Orthodox Churches in Napoli, a priest can easily be arranged for this wedding.

There’s nothing wrong with hosting the wedding in a Catholic Church, but an Orthodox priest would have access to either an Orthodox parish or an Eastern Catholic one, with tetrapod, crowns, and iconostasis.

Why aggravate the Churches you belong to when you can do things according to your own traditions, and canons of your Churches?

Deacon Christopher
 
No. Just no.

Yes. And the formal answer is that that your inference of a lack of communion is incorrect.

NOTHING about the priest being the minister suggest the lack of necessity for consent.

You’re up against the teachings of the RCC the ECCs and the EOCs.

So I’m done here. Citing selected lines that contradict church teaching don’t accomplish anything.

hawk
 
But the CCEO is not the collection of canons of the Orthodox Churches, only those of Eastern Catholic Churches.

I don’t have the text here at home, but when I get to my office at church tomorrow I can share an Orthodox source that, if memory serves, clearly states the necessity of a priest for Orthodox marriage.

In addition, as I mentioned above, no Catholic parish is going to have a tetrapod, or crowns for the ceremony. The original poster needs to simply use an Orthodox priest (and church) in nearby Napoli.

Deacon Christopher
 
Hasmik said:
I am Armenian orthodox and my spouse is ukrainian. We are getting married in April but as we live in Sorrento in Italy there is no orthodox church! Catholicism is similar to eastern orthodoxy and a catholic priest has already given us permission to marry in his cathedral. We just do not want to do something offensive to catholics as they are brothers and sisters of the orthodox church. Would you find it wrong if 2 orthodox christians got married in a catholic church?
Click to expand...
You might want to find a priest in Italy who celebrates the Byzantine Rite
 
The original poster, @hasmik and his fiancee are both Orthodox.

Quoting Catholic canons to him means nothing. He needs to get married in an Orthodox church, by an Orthodox priest.

Catholic and Orthodox relations are not bi-directional. He should not be counseled to do something contrary to the instructions of his own hierarchs, a point that @dochawk was making.

We need to help the questioner, not argue over what Eastern Catholicism thinks about this, they are not Catholic.

Deacon Christopher
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top