Can I marry in the Catholic Church?

[StP81]

Hello,

I suppose this question is really more appropriate a priest, however, I appreciate any guidance.

Issue 1: I wish to marry a woman who is catholic.Getting married in the church is very important to her, as it is a sacrement, and I would not wish to take that away from her. I have a very good understanding of the Catholic faith and have no issues with it all, and if I was a Christian, I would be Catholic. The fact remains that I am Jewish and my faith is as important to me (personally) as her’s is to her.

Issue 2: She has said to get married in the Catholic Church, you must be either christian and confirm that you (as the non-catholic party) will not object to the Catholic raising of children of the marriage; or both be catholic and uphold the faith when raising the children.

My feelings: I would absolutely not object to any children porduced from our marriage being raised catholic and I would absolutely be encouraging of the faith not only with children, but with her also. I attend mass with her and am very supportive of her and her family with regard to their religion and faith. This woman is being named God-mother of her sisters newborn son (I am clearly not being named as a god parent because I am not Catholic) and as such, I will happily assist with her with that responsibilty every step of the way.

Now, there is an interesting twist to this. I grew up in an place in which myself and my immediate family were the only Jewish folks in the area. That being said, I didn’t have a lot of Jewish friends and had to travel quite a distance to attend synagogue. All of my friends were Chrisitian in one denomination or another, but the majority of my group of friends attended the same church it was First Christian Church. The church provided after school activities and my friends attended these and I attended as well, because I had been invited. My friends decided to be baptised and , as I was 9 or 10, I decided if my friends were doing it I should too. I do want to clarify that none of the attandance at the church activities or the baptism was because people were trying to convert me to Christianity, no one really seemed to have an issue that I recall. I just wanted to hang out with my friends and be accepted.

So, this brings us to today. I have technically been baptised (and I do not mean any sort of disrespect as I know this is something taken very seriously). I can provide proof of it and I can without any hesitations at all agree to raise the children Catholic, as they wouldn’t be Jewish anyway since Judaism is matralineal. I fully support the faith of the woman I love. I have never asked or considered asking her to convert to Judaism.

I am honest in my love for her and in for supporting her.

My question: Can I marry the woman I love in the church of her faith, swearing to fully support her in her faith and swearing to uphold the catholic raising of children?

Very Respectfully,
StP81

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Yes, you can be married to a Catholic in the Church. The Church permits Catholics to marry non-Catholics and non-Christians under the following conditions (canon 1125):

1. the Catholic party promises to remain Catholic.
2. the Catholic party will do his/her best to raise the children Catholic
3. the non-Catholic/Christian accepts the Church’s understanding of marriage (i.e. faithful, exclusive, procreative)
4. the non-Catholic/Christian is aware of 1,2,3

You are not obligated to become a Catholic or be a Christian. However, the Church does accept the validity of the baptisms of the First Christian Church Disciples of Christ. It would seem that your baptism was valid, so the marriage would be treated as a marriage between a baptized Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic Christian.

You would appear to meet all the conditions necessary to marry a Catholic in the Church, your baptismal status would not affect this. Your baptismal status only affects the type of permission/dispensation (i.e. paperwork) that is needed.