Catholics marrying Non-Christians

[Pro-Life_Teen]

I saw the other open can of worms [Catholics and Protestant thread]… and since I collected bugs as a kid, I decided to open my own

What is the opinion about Catholics and non-Christians in a relationship? Is it ‘better’ to at least be with a Christian? Or is the opinion the same, Catholics should be with Catholics, and not other Christians or non-Christians?

[Yes, this type of topic does come up a lot if you stalk my posts- it interests me ]

 

[Truly_Beloved]

What is the opinion about Catholics and non-Christians in a relationship?

My short answer: Ideally, spouses should be the same faith, whether that shared faith be Catholicism, Orthodox Judaism, Buddhism, etc. Couples who have one person convert after the marriage are in a class by themselves, and the converting spouse should be supported and encouraged.

My long answer: With regards to non-marital, but romantic relationships (courtship/dating), it depends. If one person wants to convert for the sake of their soul (and not the significant other), I see no reason why the relationship shouldn’t progress toward marriage. If both are strong in their respective faiths, I believe that a lot of hardship is almost inevitable, and in most cases, marriage would not be wise. Sharing spirituality and raising children in one faith are very important to me.

My experience (which explains my opinions ): I was unbaptized when my husband (a cradle Catholic) and I met at 15 years old. We started dating at 17, and I did not become Catholic until I was nearly 20. He proposed 7 months after my baptism, and we married 2 years later.

One of our first dates was Mass. I asked him to take me, and he said that his family didn’t really go that often. He told me that because I was so interested in going, and I was looking for a man strong in faith with whom to have a family, he started going every week.

At the time, I would not date someone who didn’t take his faith seriously, because I was searching for the Truth and I wasn’t going to get involved with anyone who was mediocre in his faith. I grew up in a “choose your own faith” family, and did not want to repeat that experience with my children. I latched on to Catholicism (my dad is Catholic, so I had a bit of a cultural Catholic upbringing) because of its history and pro-life stance.

 

[BamaRider]

I saw the other open can of worms [Catholics and Protestant thread]… and since I collected bugs as a kid, I decided to open my own

What is the opinion about Catholics and non-Christians in a relationship? Is it ‘better’ to at least be with a Christian? Or is the opinion the same, Catholics should be with Catholics, and not other Christians or non-Christians?

[Yes, this type of topic does come up a lot if you stalk my posts- it interests me ]

I say its not a good idea.

 

[dove51]

Catholics and Catholics is best. I would never, EVER marry a non-Catholic.

 

[TLDenmark]

I do think it can work with a lot of love and hard work, especially if one or both doesn’t care much about faith issues. But I still consider it a bad idea, as it creates way to many potential problems.

1. Marriage is a sacrament, calling us to imitate the love of The Holy Trinity and the love between Christ and His Church. That is difficult enough as it is, it will be even harder when one spouse doesn’t share such ideals. Even if the couple doesn’t argue about the faith, we are still talking about a marriage where only one person will have the benefits of the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist. Also it is unlikely that the none-Christian would have a catholic sacramental view on marriage, and that could create future problems with issues such as divorce.
2. It creates a lot of problems with the children, and increases the likelihood of the children falling away from the faith. Even if the none-catholic parent agrees to raise the children catholic, he or she would still be setting a bad example by not going to church and participating in family prayer.
3. Depending on the religious views in question, it is very likely that the two spouses would have very different values. It is not only about NFP or the way to raise the kids, but could also be about anything from dietary to economical issues.
4. The Catholic spouse would be unable to truly share the catholic parts of his/her personality with the other spouse, and could end up spending a lot of time worrying about the other spouses salvation.

What that in mind, I think it is better to marry within the faith.