Can I marry a couple?

[Erik1978]

I currently live in Japan and in Japan most people get married at wedding chapels rather than at a Shinto Shrine. It is a lavish ceremony and very expensive. One of the characteristics of the wedding chapel is that a westerner is always the one acting as the minister or performing the ceremony. Many westerners do this in Japan for a living. I was offered a job to do this and the money is good. However, I am a practicing Catholic and this is a sacrement no matter what your faith is. So the question is, can I accept this job in good faith? By the way, you are requiered to have a ministry certificate which can easily be bought on line.

 

[JPUSC]

Why do the Japanese prefer Westerners as ministers? LOL.

I’m not really sure, but if it’s a civil wedding, I guess it’s alright (if the couples are non-Catholic). I suppose there’s Catholic judges who do civil weddings here in the U.S.

I’m not too fond of the idea though. I think weddings should be conducted by a priest or authentic religious figure (e.g. minister, rabbi, etc).

 

[quiet52]

Catholics can officiate at a civil wedding in a civil capacity where legal, if the newlyweds are not Catholic. Mayors do this, cruiseline captains do this (at least in the movies), Justices of the Peace do this. However, as a Catholic, you may not “get ordained” in order to do so. You would be mocking the sacrament of Holy Orders by pretending to be a minister, and would be mocking the sacrament of Matrimony by pretending it’s a religious ceremony.

 

[Phemie]

I currently live in Japan and in Japan most people get married at wedding chapels rather than at a Shinto Shrine. It is a lavish ceremony and very expensive. One of the characteristics of the wedding chapel is that a westerner is always the one acting as the minister or performing the ceremony. Many westerners do this in Japan for a living. I was offered a job to do this and the money is good. However, I am a practicing Catholic and this is a sacrement no matter what your faith is.

Well, no it isn’t, not unless both the bride and groom are baptized which I suspect wouldn’t be the case in most of the marriages at which you’d be officiating.

So the question is, can I accept this job in good faith? By the way, you are requiered to have a ministry certificate which can easily be bought on line.

It’s the same way in Canada, you can apply to the various provincial governments to be a ‘marriage commissioner’. Unless you are helping people sin (i.e. marrying a Catholic outside the Church without a dispensation) I think it’s perfectly OK to do this.

 

[Seatuck]

In Japan, is the civil ceremony required first before the religious one? In that case it wouldn’t be a problem. In Europe there are some countries where the priests do not act for the civil authority like they do here. So the couple goes to the civil authority gets married and then takes the certificate to the priest where they have the religious ceremony.

 

[puzzleannie]

a Catholic may officiate at a civil wedding if it is part of his job–judge, mayor etc. but what is wrong in this scenario is seeking a “ministry certificate” on-line or through a non-Catholic seminary since that is mocking the sacrament of Holy Orders and in fact is an act that may be construed as formal defection from the Catholic faith.

I doubt very much if Japan deputizes “westerners” as its civil authorities with power to witness civil marriages.

 

[Erik1978]

quiet52 makes a good point. If I have a certificate as a minister it would be illicit in the eyes of the Church. I can’t as a Catholic pretend to be a protestant minister. The certificate serves as a legal document allowing me to perform marriages. I never saw this issue from that angle. It helps me a lot and now I can say no to the job offer with good reason.

To answer JPUSC on why they want a western wedding in Japan, I can only say they might think it is exotic. The wedding halls look like churches, have crosses, the ministers were vestments and they even use Sacred Scripture in the ceremony. Some Japanese have gone as far as traveling to Europe to be married in an old church. It doesn’t make sense to me but they all prefer this to their own traditions.

 

[Seatuck]

quiet52 makes a good point. If I have a certificate as a minister it would be illicit in the eyes of the Church. I can’t as a Catholic pretend to be a protestant minister. The certificate serves as a legal document allowing me to perform marriages. I never saw this issue from that angle. It helps me a lot and now I can say no to the job offer with good reason.

To answer JPUSC on why they want a western wedding in Japan, I can only say they might think it is exotic. The wedding halls look like churches, have crosses, the ministers were vestments and they even use Sacred Scripture in the ceremony. Some Japanese have gone as far as traveling to Europe to be married in an old church. It doesn’t make sense to me but they all prefer this to their own traditions.

Ok , thanks for the clarification. You would be mimicking a religious ceremony. That’s problematic. According to the Japanese Embassy website the couple must go to the civil authority. How does what you do fit in there? Seems like what you would do comes after the civil marriage. Very problematic.

If you wish to marry in Japan, you will do so according to Japanese law. Marriage in Japan consists of a civil marriage registration by the couple at a Japanese municipal government office.

Only this civil registration constitutes a legal marriage in Japan. Ceremonies performed by religious or fraternal bodies in Japan, while perhaps more meaningful for you, are not legal marriages.Consular officers unfortunately cannot perform marriages.

tokyo.usembassy.gov/e/acs/tacs-7114a.html

Do you have a priest in Japan you could ask? How do they view those marriages?

 

[Chatter163]

I have read about this trend in Japan, which has become widespread only in recent years. It speaks volumes about the exporting of American pop culture across the world, and I do not mean that in a positive way.

 

[FrDavid96]

quiet52 makes a good point. If I have a certificate as a minister it would be illicit in the eyes of the Church. I can’t as a Catholic pretend to be a protestant minister. The certificate serves as a legal document allowing me to perform marriages. I never saw this issue from that angle. It helps me a lot and now I can say no to the job offer with good reason.

To answer JPUSC on why they want a western wedding in Japan, I can only say they might think it is exotic. The wedding halls look like churches, have crosses, the ministers were vestments and they even use Sacred Scripture in the ceremony. Some Japanese have gone as far as traveling to Europe to be married in an old church. It doesn’t make sense to me but they all prefer this to their own traditions.

Erik,

I’m glad you came to the conclusion not to do this.

Yes, getting “ordained” as a non-Catholic minister would be a serious problem–even if it’s just something done on the internet (and I’ve seen such sites). I think it might even be possible to construct an argument (purely intellectual) that by doing so you would be excommunicating yourself–I don’t think you want to go there.

It would also be a serious problem for a Catholic to perform a “mock” Christian wedding for people who only want one for the sake of having a western-looking ceremony.

 

[bpbasilphx]

**However, I am a practicing Catholic and this is a sacrement no matter what your faith is. **

Not necessarily.

 

[mystified]

Sounds like the OP could run into a buzzsaw of legality that can be avoided by saying no.
In California, under certain circumstances, as a notary public I may officiate in a civil marriage, since he/she is commissioned to serve as a witness to legal actions. I have never done so, leaving civil marriages to judges and county clerks.