Catholic Wedding with Protestant Guests/Family

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Yep…and a better way than families that teach their kids non-Catholics are hell bound heretics…😉

Disclaimer: I don’t think I’ve heard of a family teaching either.
 
There are a LOT of families of Baptists, Evangelicals etc who teach that Catholics are weird or bad, or else their ministers teach it. My nephew when a child started to pop off with some of that in my presence once and was quickly shushed by his mom. I also heard some of that while at college and of course it is all over some Protestant radio programs.
 
Hey…I don’t disagree that it may happen from both sides. Like you know, the priest at the Catholic church here has called non-Catholics flawed, don’t go to heaven and did an entire homily on him not being able to understand why Catholic women marry men who aren’t Catholic. Catholic boys/men will respect you where these others only view women as possessions and toys there for their enjoyment.

That was an awkward day…
 
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TC, I truly hope one day I read a post from you on here that says you either changed parishes or got a new priest, and the new priest in either case is Protestant-friendly. As we have discussed before, I never ran into any such stuff in 30+ years of my relationship with Protestant husband.
 
Definitely I’ve seen both sides. I’ve seen anti-Catholicism and those who look down on Protestants too.

BUT when you’re dealing with your FAMILY things are different.

I would not want to be the one who puts one more obstacle in the way of my family finding their way home to Catholicism. I did what I felt was right and what I felt would help open their hearts and minds to the Church. To each their own.
 
Honestly, changing parishes will be up to my wife. I thought this summer would be the year, I think she got close but is going to stick it out one more year here for our middle one’s 1st communion. She still “could” change, she hasn’t put in the RE paperwork yet. One big hurdle is the town parish is 6 blocks from our house, the next closest is 10-15 min out into the country.

The church just took him on for a 6 year stint last fall, so he is here for at least another 5 years…unless something out of the ordinary changes.
 
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KMG said:
No reason a Mass can’t have Communion for only the bride-groom (and of course the priest, the only person present whose Communion is required). It is quite common in the Tridentine Nuptial Mass for only those 3 to receive Communion.
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So after reading through the entire thread, I’m wondering if asking the priest about this would be the fairest thing to do for both sides?

OP and her fiance are going to have to come to some sort of compromise about this though and I hope they can.
 
TC3033 said:
They don’t necessarily know that it’s something they don’t believe in. In some protestant churches by saying you’re not welcome to communion is the same as saying “you’re not welcome here”. I’m not saying that’s right or it’s wrong, just say’n what it is.
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Right. So, it’s really up to the priest celebrant to explain what we, as Catholics, believe, and to invite those who are Catholic who share our belief and are properly disposed, to approach for the Eucharist. For others, reception of the Eucharist would be an invitation to lie: “Body of Christ”; “Umm… no, it isn’t. But… yeah! Amen!”
 
I am not sure if what you want is possible.
I have been to many Catholic weddings and those who are Catholics, in good standing, are offered the opportunity to partake in communion. Now I have heard a priest before distributing the communion to say that only Catholic who are in a state of grace may partake.
Sorry, I know this is not the answer you are seeking.
 
Sure…I wouldn’t say that in the in this case though. It’s really up to the OP and her fiance to decide what they want and see if there is any middle ground they can agree on.

I understand where the OP is coming from and how she doesn’t want her wedding to be something that her family/side of the church are left out as mere observers where his family would be full participants with her.

Much of the same reason my wife and I didn’t have a full mass.
 
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His_helpmeet said:
They both acted as EMHCs for their own wedding.
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My wife and I did this, too (although we’re both cradle Catholics). It made the mass more special to me. It doesn’t solve the problem of potentially alienating half the congregation.

OP, this seems to be a very important (rightly) issue to you and your fiance. As an outsider with extremely limited information, I have concern about how your marriage is going to start if this doesn’t get resolved. You should discuss this and pray together about it.

Finally, I would say that your wedding should reflect your and your fiance’s desires. My mom wanted my wife and I to do a Marian devotion at our wedding. We did not, and I told my mom we would not because it was not what we wanted. You are getting married for you, not for your families. You are each leaving your parents’ home and creating a new one.
 
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To print or not to print … The question of including a warning in the printed invitations – Holy Communion is only for Catholics who have fulfilled the Sacrament of Reconciliation within the last so many days – cropped up in the course of this similar thread, a couple of months ago. It’s a decision I never needed to make in my own case, so I hesitate to give an opinion on a question of which I have no personal experience. But to my ear it sounds needlessly discourteous to the non-Catholic family members.
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Confession for weddings Traditional Catholicism
Don’t you think it would be so awesome if Priests gave time for a confessional period prior to a Catholic Wedding Mass ? That way you don’t have to be the jerk that tells the attendees that they aren’t ALLOWED to receive the Eucharist, since none of them ever go to mass anymore? Then like write it on the invitations and say: “Prior to the wedding ceremony there will be a time for confession, please make use of this if are Catholic and you haven’t been to mass in a while.”
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Since you’ve had lots of serious advice, have you considered moving the wedding to certain German dioceses?
 
Those diocesess offer the Eucharist to the EKD, which is mostly Lutheran, and Lutherans believe in the Real Presence.
I haven’t read anywhere that they hold open communion to all and sundry, random walk-in Protestants.
 
If your mom wants to receive the Eucharist she should become Catholic. I told my mother not to come to my grandmother’s funeral if she planned to take communion. I don’t care if she or anyone else felt left out. They are not Catholic so therefore are not in communion with us so therefore cannot receive communion. They believe different things. I would never go to their church and take their communion.

As a Catholic I would also never get married without the graces that come along with a Mass offered for that intention. I wouldn’t care if everyone in attendance wasn’t Catholic. I don’t know why anyone would want to receive our communion if they don’t believe what goes along with it.
 
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DignumEtJustum said:
As a Catholic I would also never get married without the graces that come along with a Mass offered for that intention. I wouldn’t care if everyone in attendance wasn’t Catholic.
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IDK…my wife and I didn’t have full mass for our wedding. WE didn’t want one of the first things done after becoming a married couple be something that split the church in half and classifying attendees, family and friends as mere observers vs. participants.
DignumEtJustum said:
I don’t know why anyone would want to receive our communion if they don’t believe what goes along with it.
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See…that’s kind of the thing, they don’t KNOW what goes along with it and they don’t know that Catholicism is so different. Like I said up-thread, to a baptized non-Catholic coming to mass for the first time (and may only attend a few times in their lifetime), being told you’re not welcome to communion is basically the same as saying; you are not welcome here.

I’m not saying who’s wrong, right , or indifferent…just explaining their side of the street.
 
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