Civil Ceremony

[FromTheAshes777]

Hi all,

A question and request for advice.

My younger cousin is getting married this coming month (Sept). Both her and her fiancee are professing agnostics (there might be a higher power, there might not be but there’s no way for us to know so why bother). As far as I currently know the wedding is set to be held in an art museum and will be a civil ceremony/non religious “wedding”.

I know that the Church regards Protestant weddings as valid so if for example a Baptist couple wanted to enter the Church and become Catholic they could and their wedding would be considered valid and they could recieve the Sacraments after preparation, same with any other church that believes in the Trinity and of course the couple would need to have both been Baptized. Please correct me if I’m a little bit off here.

My question is, what exactly defines a valid wedding ceremony if niether party is Catholic? Does the minister need to believe in the Trinity as well as the couple and both having been Baptized invoking the Trinity? I know that a civil ceremony (non-religious ceremony) wouldn’t be recognized by the Church.

Finally I need some advice. My parents who are Baptized professing protestant Christians are going to attend this ceremony and feel that I should too since they are family. I personally feel that I will be endorsing something that is really a fake wedding if I go. I can choose to not go, but I know this will deeply upset my parents and other family. Any advice? Thanks and sorry for the long post.

in Christ our Lord
~Josh

-PS I wasn’t sure where this needed to be posted so mods please move to another part of the forum if needed. Thanks again.

 

[puzzleannie]

if the parties getting married are not Catholic, they are not bound by Catholic canon law on marriage (witness must be priest or deacon, need dispensation to marry a non-Catholic etc.). Everyone is bound by natural law on marriage (a person who is already validly married cannot get married again even after a civil divorce, because civil divorce does not end a valid marriage; marriage is between one man and one woman etc).

as long as the parties are not Catholic, they will be validly married if they are free to marry, have proper intent and capacity, and freely w/o coercion exchange consent, and the officiating witness has civil legal authority to do so.

If they belong to another religion that has rules on marriage, they should certainly follow them, but in any case their is no inherent moral problem with a Catholic relative attending the wedding.

here is the most recent time your question was answered on AAA
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=254741

 

[1ke]

My question is, what exactly defines a valid wedding ceremony if niether party is Catholic?

The Church recognizes all marriages as valid if there are no impediments-- for example a prior marriage on the part of one or both of the parties attempting to marry.

So, as you stated a marriage between two baptized non-Catholics would be valid and a Sacrament.

But, you are incorrect regarding the non-baptized. The Church views their marriages as valid also. If one or both are unbaptized, the marriage is called a natural marriage.

Does the minister need to believe in the Trinity as well as the couple and both having been Baptized invoking the Trinity?

No.

I know that a civil ceremony (non-religious ceremony) wouldn’t be recognized by the Church.

You are incorrect. A civil ceremony of two non-Catholics is indeed valid. It would only be invalid if their own faith community had a requirement of form (for example, the Orthodox Church has church law similar to the Catholic Church and member of the Orthodox Church marries validly only if married by an Orthodox Priest.) I do not know of any Christian group that requires form other than the Orthodox and Catholic Churches.

I personally feel that I will be endorsing something that is really a fake wedding if I go. I can choose to not go, but I know this will deeply upset my parents and other family.

You can certainly choose not to go, but it should not be based on the fact that the wedding would be a “fake” wedding since in fact it would not be. If there are no impediments, it is a valid marriage.

Now, that presumes that this is a first marriage for both parties.

 

[FromTheAshes777]

thanks all for the clarifications on this, I guess I just have some very mixed emotions on being at a ceremony that does not include or want God’s blessing. It honestly really bothers me, and I’ve never been to a non Christian wedding before so some of my emotions I guess showed in my original post. I guess I still have a lot to learn about all of this…

 

[Ruthie]

Well, you can attend, and silently pray for God’s blessing on the couple during the ceremony!

Ruthie