Can i marry a catholic?

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Lost_Child

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I have asked this once, but i see no post anywhere so illl ask again…

I have fallen deeply in love with an extremely devout Roman Catholic man. I was raised protestant. Over this last year i have done a lot of studying and learning about the catholic faith. I have come to understand finally (from asking a catholics point of view instead a protestants view of the catholic faith) many things i never fully grasped of why catholics believe things about certain topics that protestants do not. I can see WHY from their point of view…some things i agree with and dont see why not…others i am uncomfortable with because of the way i was raised.

We are both well aware of our feelings for each other and I am fully agreeable with (IF we were to ever get married) him following his faith and raising the kids catholic and everything. I have even attended a few Mass services and find it rather interesting.

I guess my question is…IF he was to marry a non-catholic woman, would he be restrained from confession, the Eucharist or anything else he holds so dear? I wouldnt want to hurt him that way, but i am so ready to spend the rest of my life with this man! So i was just needing to know before i placed to much hope in it.
 
From my understanding, yes. You would either need to be married by a Catholic priest, or he would need a disspension from his Bishop to be married by in your Church. As far as the sacremental-ness, i’m sure someone with a better understanding will come along to explain that.
Oh, and the above assumes you are a baptised Christian, non-Catholic.
 
As I understand it, Catholics can marry Protestants as long as both are available for marriage, (i.e. not already married to someone else in eyes of the Church, etc.) As long as your boyfriend married you within the Church and followed Church teachings, he’d still be able to recieve the sacraments. If you are baptized, the marriage should be recognized as a sacramental marriage, (at least by Catholics:) )

I will caution you, (based on my own experience), that inter-faith marriage adds an extra burden onto a marriage. It might be like living the Reformation right under your own roof. On the other hand if you are both serious about your faith, then you share a love for the Lord Jesus, and that unites and heals.
 
My uncle married a non-practicing moslem women. He has still be able to receive the sacrements and my little cousins have been baptised. (they should be attending church with them and practicing) Point is though he is still able to participate in the church.
 
If I were you I would enroll in RCIA,there is no obligation to become Catholic but you can certainly learn about the Faith and if you guys do get married you can understand your husband and childrens Faith better.God Bless
 
As others have said, you can marry him (provided neither of you have ever been married). He will have to go through the Church in some way (i.e., either get married by a Catholic priest or deacon or get his bishop to give permission to be married elsewhere).

You should also know that he will have to promise to raise children in the Catholic faith.

If he is married according to the Church’s (simple) rules, he will certainly still be a Catholic in good standing.
 
Lost Child:
I have asked this once, but i see no post anywhere so illl ask again…

I have fallen deeply in love with an extremely devout Roman Catholic man. I was raised protestant. Over this last year i have done a lot of studying and learning about the catholic faith. I have come to understand finally (from asking a catholics point of view instead a protestants view of the catholic faith) many things i never fully grasped of why catholics believe things about certain topics that protestants do not. I can see WHY from their point of view…some things i agree with and dont see why not…others i am uncomfortable with because of the way i was raised.

We are both well aware of our feelings for each other and I am fully agreeable with (IF we were to ever get married) him following his faith and raising the kids catholic and everything. I have even attended a few Mass services and find it rather interesting.

I guess my question is…IF he was to marry a non-catholic woman, would he be restrained from confession, the Eucharist or anything else he holds so dear? I wouldnt want to hurt him that way, but i am so ready to spend the rest of my life with this man! So i was just needing to know before i placed to much hope in it.
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Your profile says soon to be Catholic. So it seems that the question is irrelevant.
 
Well, from what I can tell, you have the ideal disposition of a non-catholic marrying a catholic. I reccomend reading the following link: vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P53.HTM
The part I reccomend paying particular attention to is paragraph 1633, which addressses mixed marriages. I also advise reading the entire section on marriage, as it is very enlightening.
If you have any questions about what you read, I advise getting in touch with the local pastor of a Catholic church, or getting in touch with a Catholic Answers staff apologist.
I hope everything works out wonderfully for the both of you!
God Bless,

Justin
 
consult the priest or deacon in charge of marriage preparation in your parish and ask these questions, where you can lay out all the relevant facts (including previous marriages, if any) and get an answer that applies to you, not generalities. Yes it can be done, no it is not a slam dunk, he needs a dispensation to marry you and has to promise to raise children Catholic (among other things, that is the short form). any answer here is going to be useless unless you check it out with your pastor (or his pastor).
 
Lost Child:
I guess my question is…IF he was to marry a non-catholic woman, would he be restrained from confession, the Eucharist or anything else he holds so dear? I wouldnt want to hurt him that way, but i am so ready to spend the rest of my life with this man! So i was just needing to know before i placed to much hope in it.
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No- although the two of you would need to be married in the Catholic Church. A valid and sacramental marriage of you and he would not prohibit him from receiving any other sacraments. He would still be as Catholic as he ever was- and he (and you) would receive even more graces through your sacramental marriage.

I am a Catholic woman who married a non-practicing Protestant man in 2003. We had to go through all of the same marriage preparation as a couple where both are Catholic, and we both had to obtain copies of our baptismal certificates (fortunately he was raised in a liturgical church that keeps track of such things) to show that it would be a marriage of two Christians. I also had to apply for a dispensation from the archdiocese to marry outside of the faith. Our priest filled out most of the forms for me- it was mostly a matter of me scanning them for errors and signing wherever needed. I also had to sign a form stating that I would raise any children that we might have in the Church. Fortunately, like you, my husband did not have a problem with this and even said so in front of our priest.

The rules are different in each diocese, so you definitely would want to check with your priest to find out what is needed for you. You may be required to attend RCIA- even if you do not convert, some dioceses wish for non-Catholics to attend before marriage in order to learn about the Church. And something you might want to ask your priest about (if he doesn’t bring it up like ours did) is having a Nuptial Scripture Service instead of a full Mass at your wedding. This is nice for mixed marriages because it only celebrates the sacrament of marriage and not the sacrament of the Eucharist. For us it was much easier than having to explain to two-thirds of the wedding party and about 70% of the guests that they could not receive the Eucharist.
 
These replies have all been very helpful! I thank you all so much.Peace Be With You!
 
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Lisa4Catholics:
If I were you I would enroll in RCIA,there is no obligation to become Catholic but you can certainly learn about the Faith and if you guys do get married you can understand your husband and childrens Faith better.God Bless
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I am most impressed that you care enough to ask this question. I was a protenstant when I married my wife. The answer to your question is NO PROBLEM as long as you were baptized in the name of the father, sonn and holy spirit. However, I agree with Lisa. Sign up and go to a RCIA course. There is no obligation and you would do two things, 1) get a better understanding of the Catholic faith, 2) show your future husband that you do care about his faith.

On a side note, I would recommend reading:
“Rome Sweet Home” by SCOTT HAHN and
“Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic” by David Currie

We are not trying to convert you and we do applaud your efforts to protect his faith.
 
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