Catholic / Protestant marriage

[panevino]

just after clarification

an inlaw(Protestant) is marrying a Catholic.
the inlaw will very likely drive a wedding at a non-Catholic church.

if this is the case, what does the Catholic need to do to ensure a valid marriage in terms of the Catholic church.

my understanding is that he will need to speak to his priest, explain the situation and recieve a blessing to get married in a non catholic ceremony.

is this correct? is that all he will need to do, does the non catholic partner need to be there?
does he need to make any promises regarding trying to guide faith of future children?

thanks

 

[puzzleannie]

my understanding is that he will need to speak to his priest, explain the situation and recieve a blessing to get married in a non catholic ceremony.

you are correct up to this point
the Catholic needs to speak to his priest immediatly. His preparation for marriage and the sacrament itself must be in accord with canon law as applied in his diocese. That means he must with his intended if she cooperates go throught the marriage preparation program, which is intended to insure a valid contract among other things. He needs a dispensation to marry a non-Catholic and that will be granted only if he can give reasonable assurance his own faith is not endangered, and promises to rear his children Catholic. The other party must be informed of his obligations.

He must get a further dispensation to marry in another location, and have a non-Catholic minister as witness. These are harder but not impossible to obtain.

Hope his family speaks up on the dangers of what he contemplates, which will probably fall on deaf ears anyhow.

 

[1ke]

He needs to make an appointment with his priest immediately.

They must both attend Catholic premarital counseling/preparation in the parish and complete an investigation of freedom to marry with the priest.

The Catholic will need to receive permission for a mixed marriage. To do so, the Catholic must not be in danger of defecting from the faith and the Catholic must promise to raise any children Catholic. The non-Catholic party must be apprised of this promise. The permission for mixed marriage comes from the bishop, and the priest will apply for it.

The Catholic would also need a *dispensation from Catholic *form to marry in a non-Catholic ceremony. The priest will apply to the bishop for the dispensation.

 

[cradlecatholic5]

Hmmm… my brother married a Protestant in the Lutheran Church (MO SYNOD) and our priest blessed the marriage in the Catholic faith - no special dispensation, no papers signed. But official in the Catholic Church.

 

[johnnykins]

Hmmm… my brother married a Protestant in the Lutheran Church (MO SYNOD) and our priest blessed the marriage in the Catholic faith - no special dispensation, no papers signed. But official in the Catholic Church.

The person being married doesn’t have to sign anything - a verbal promise to raise the children Catholic suffices. It’s entirely possible your brother got the dispensations - indeed it’s probable if the priest “blessed” the marriage.

 

[Phemie]

Hmmm… my brother married a Protestant in the Lutheran Church (MO SYNOD) and our priest blessed the marriage in the Catholic faith - no special dispensation, no papers signed. But official in the Catholic Church.

When did your priest do that? Before, during or after the wedding in the Lutheran Church?

When it comes to dispensations, most people are unaware that the priest is asking for them. In many dioceses the bishop has delegated the granting of permission for mixed marriages to the priest preparing the couple so the discussion never even comes up.

Even a convalidation requires permission or dispensation depending on the baptismal status of the non-Catholic.

 

[1ke]

Hmmm… my brother married a Protestant in the Lutheran Church (MO SYNOD) and our priest blessed the marriage in the Catholic faith - no special dispensation, no papers signed. But official in the Catholic Church.

That may have been a convalidation after the fact-- meaning your brother married invalidly and then corrected it via convalidation. Convalidation still requires permissions and paperwork.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hmmm… my brother married a Protestant in the Lutheran Church (MO SYNOD) and our priest blessed the marriage in the Catholic faith - no special dispensation, no papers signed. But official in the Catholic Church.

no papers are required to be signed,
and the priest probably did the work for the dispensation, as he usually does, the couple needs to do nothing more then ask the priest. If you were not part of the process at all levels you don’t really know all the priest did. None of this is automatic, the priest had to do his job.

 

[cradlecatholic5]

I was IN the wedding and Fr Joe blessed the marriage AFTER the service … this was Lutheran MO SYNOD and the preacher told my brother that Fr Joe was welcome to attend the service, but was not permitted to be on the “altar” or wear his roman collar.

Well, Fr Joe is Irish. He sat in the front pew w/ my parents w/ the whitest roman collar he owned.

Most likely when my brother and s-i-l spoke w/ Fr Joe things were taken care of.

 

[Phemie]

I was IN the wedding and Fr Joe blessed the marriage AFTER the service … this was Lutheran MO SYNOD and the preacher told my brother that Fr Joe was welcome to attend the service, but was not permitted to be on the “altar” or wear his roman collar.

Well, Fr Joe is Irish. He sat in the front pew w/ my parents w/ the whitest roman collar he owned.

Most likely when my brother and s-i-l spoke w/ Fr Joe things were taken care of.

It sounds as though everything had been done and Fr. Joe simply gave the happy couple the nuptial blessing. Not to be confused with a convalidation which is what people often mean when they speak of ‘having the marriage blessed’.

It would have been totally inappropriate for him to bless an invalid marriage, which is what it would have been if dispensation from canonical form had not been obtained. Although, it’s not unheard of for priests to do that. In fact, last New Year’s Eve our former pastor did exactly that with a couple who wouldn’t wait for the final decree of nullity to arrive. He blessed their marriage and told them that the Church was behind them 100%.

 

[1ke]

I was IN the wedding and Fr Joe blessed the marriage AFTER the service … this was Lutheran MO SYNOD and the preacher told my brother that Fr Joe was welcome to attend the service, but was not permitted to be on the “altar” or wear his roman collar.

Well, Fr Joe is Irish. He sat in the front pew w/ my parents w/ the whitest roman collar he owned.

Most likely when my brother and s-i-l spoke w/ Fr Joe things were taken care of.

Then that was the Nuptial Blessing. It doesn’t have anything to do with the permissions or validity of the marriage.

This means that the couple did in fact complete all the permissions, dispensations, and paperwork necessary for a valid Catholic marriage. Otherwise, a Catholic priest could not have been in attendance, per canon law.

 

[Phemie]

Then that was the Nuptial Blessing. It doesn’t have anything to do with the permissions or validity of the marriage.

This means that the couple did in fact complete all the permissions, dispensations, and paperwork necessary for a valid Catholic marriage. Otherwise, a Catholic priest could not have been in attendance, per canon law.

Well, at least not one like the poster describes:

Well, Fr Joe is Irish. He sat in the front pew w/ my parents w/ the whitest roman collar he owned.