Can you still take Communion if your marriage is not validated by the Church?

[Seatuck]

I just went through this!
I was baptized RC, did not receive the other sacraments, became Lutheran, was married to another protestant by a protestant minister several years ago. I decided to come back to the RC church in 2003.
One of the issues was, does my marriage have to be blessed by the church to be valid? The answer was no because we took our vows before God.

Your priest probably considered your joining the Lutheran church as leaving the Catholic church by a formal act but the Vatican has ruled that it needs to be more than that. You would have had to formally written a request asking that you be released from your canonical responsibilities. That request needed to be received and acknowleded by a competent ecclesial authority. If you didn’t do that then you are not married according to the rules of the church. It may be since you returned to the church in 2003 that the question had not been answered then as the document is dated 2006. You might want to look into it.

vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/intrptxt/documents/rc_pc_intrptxt_doc_20060313_actus-formalis_en.html

 

[Eric_Olsen]

I was only baptized( did not make any other sacraments) in the RC church at that time but was confirmed in a Lutheran church prior to being married by a Lutheran minister. Also at the time I started attending the Lutheran church, I was very young, not catechized in the RC church and nobody else in my family attended church, so I was kind of pulled into the Lutheran church by others.

My parish priest who is familiar with my situation, called the chancellery here in the Philadelphia Archdiocese and they said that my marriage was ok.

Your priest probably considered your joining the Lutheran church as leaving the Catholic church by a formal act but the Vatican has ruled that it needs to be more than that. You would have had to formally written a request asking that you be released from your canonical responsibilities. That request needed to be received and acknowleded by a competent ecclesial authority. If you didn’t do that then you are not married according to the rules of the church. It may be since you returned to the church in 2003 that the question had not been answered then as the document is dated 2006. You might want to look into it.

vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/intrptxt/documents/rc_pc_intrptxt_doc_20060313_actus-formalis_en.html

 

[Claire_from_DE]

I was wondering if when a person is married by a Justice of the Peace but they want to become a Catholic years later, what do they do if for some reason it isn’t possible for them to get their marriage recognized by the Church?

For example, what if the other spouse refuses or what if the other spouse is living in open rebellion to God and the spouse who wants to become a Catholic doesn’t even want the Church to validate a marriage in such a case?

If both of you were baptized and free to married (not divorced from someone else) and you said your vows before a Justice of the Peace, the Catholic Church already considers your marriage valid. Becoming a Catholic wouldn’t affect the status of your marriage.

If you or your spouse had been a baptized Catholic, the marriage would have had to have taken place according to church law to be valid. But if neither of you was Catholic at the time of the wedding you would not have had to follow that law.

It sounds like you might prefer that the church didn’t consider your marriage valid??

 

[studentoflove]

It is not your authority to say the priest is right or wrong. Talk to your priest, not some know it all on a forum. Ask him to talk to bishop if he is not sure. But usually if you only have a courthouse marriage it is not recognized. But can be recognized later down the road. You are both baptized so that is great! Again, talk to your priest and ask for bishops thoughts. By the way, going though very similar but also different situation.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

studentoflove:
You’ve just responded to a thread that’s five years old. The person you’re responding to may not even be here at this point.

 

[studentoflove]

Yes, I see that. I came across this post when I searched. Why couldn’t others? I can read dates thank you. I posted for others not this single person. If you have a useful comment than post otherwise don’t bother me.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Since you’re a new member here you may find it helpful to read the “sticky” posts at the top of the forum. They have the guidelines for this place including this one - “Please, when you search for a topic take note of the year it was first posted. If it’s over a year old, please start a new thread to discuss the topic.”

Please don’t take offense when someone is trying to help you get off to a good start.

 

[studentoflove]

Again, read my last post. If you aren’t in the interest of helping people with questions than just what are you doing? Start your own new thread.

 

[Bergon]

I was wondering if when a person is married by a Justice of the Peace but they want to become a Catholic years later, what do they do if for some reason it isn’t possible for them to get their marriage recognized by the Church?

For example, what if the other spouse refuses or what if the other spouse is living in open rebellion to God and the spouse who wants to become a Catholic doesn’t even want the Church to validate a marriage in such a case?

Why do you think your marriage may be invalid? Is it because you were married in a civil ceremony? Your marriage isn’t invalid just because it was a civil ceremony. When you married you were’t a catholic; therefore, you weren’t bound by the catholic canonical form of marriage. If you’re received into the Catholic Church your marriage will be taken as a valid marriage. May be there’s some other reason why you think it might be invalid. It’s not entirely clear from your OP.

 

[Phemie]

Why do you think your marriage may be invalid? Is it because you were married in a civil ceremony? Your marriage isn’t invalid just because it was a civil ceremony. When you married you were’t a catholic; therefore, you weren’t bound by the catholic canonical form of marriage. If you’re received into the Catholic Church your marriage will be taken as a valid marriage. May be there’s some other reason why you think it might be invalid. It’s not entirely clear from your OP.

As stated above, this thread is 5 years old and the OP hasn’t posted in 2.5 years.