Civil Marriage & Absolution

[Catiesings1]

Hello everyone,
I came across a paper that stated a pope or bishop could be the only ones to absolve a list of grave sins, one of which included “getting married before a non Catholic minister”.

I have two scenarios that I need cleared up ASAP to make sure I’m okay.

1. My husband was not a Catholic when we met. He was divorced from his ex wife and I was fallen away from the faith. We were married in a civil ceremony. A year later we had a huge change of heart due to a miscarriage that brought me back to the faith and my husband into it as well. We found out his marriage needed to be annulled and that technically I was “married” to a married man. After the annulment came through, he converted to Catholicism and we were married in the Church. Is it a valid marriage if I never had proper absolution from the pope or bishop for our initial marriage? Or does the validity of our Church marriage nullify the issue? I’m freaking out
2. My mom had a similar problem as she was married at a “hitching post” a year before they married in the church. They legally divorced a few years later but got back together, never civilly remarrying. She was a baptized Catholic, my dad was a protestant convert.

Long story short, we’re all traditional Catholics now and we made some mistakes along the way - but we saw this and were worried we’re not even married. Any help? Canon lawyers? We need answers!

 

[puer.dei]

I came across a paper that stated a pope or bishop could be the only ones to absolve a list of grave sins, one of which included “getting married before a non Catholic

What paper? Where? Who wrote it? What authority do they have?
And most of all – Why would your priest have married you without this absolution if this were true?

 

[Catiesings1]

I’m trying to attach the picture but it won’t let me. It’s from an old Catholic book, doesn’t have a title - it’s just a singular page. Looks like a Baltimore catechism type. It’s a question on general absolution from a priest, and it covers what things need a Pope or Bishop to absolve. Free Masonry, being married by a non-Catholic minister, and desecration of the host.

As for why a priest would marry us, I don’t know. Considering that I was almost allowed to marry my husband in the church and multiple priests said he didn’t need an annulment (when he definitely did) makes me uneasy. If I hadn’t mentioned it offhand to a canon lawyer priest, we never would have known. Which proves to me they don’t know everything, and can let important things slip through the cracks.

 

[Catiesings1]

Adding that I found the name of the book. It’s My Catholic Faith - Sarto Publishing, Baltimore Catechism No 3

 

[brown_bear]

If you read the Wikipedia page I have attached, you will see that it is not a very up-to-date document.

In this field, updates are frequent: the doctrine does not change, obviously, but the discipline can change a lot.

For example, it is now normal for the bishop to delegate some priests - we call them “penitenzieri” - to absolve particular sins.

But if you write to the diocesan Curia (Administration) it may also be that they tell you that you don’t need to do anything else, except to enjoy your wedding

Baltimore Catechism - Wikipedia

 

[Montrose]

I came across a paper that stated a pope or bishop could be the only ones to absolve a list of grave sins, one of which included “getting married before a non Catholic minister”.

Absolutely incorrect. All mortal sins can be forgiven and absolved at Confession.

You might be confused and are talking about certain excommunications that cannot be lifted by a priest but that is a different issue and certainly does not apply to “getting married before a non Catholic minister”.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Adding that I found the name of the book. It’s My Catholic Faith - Sarto Publishing, Baltimore Catechism No 3

As brown_bear mentioned, the Baltimore Catechism you read is likely old. In 1983, the canon law of the Church was significantly updated, so if your book is prior to 1983 it’s referencing the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which contained a list of “reserved sins” that only a bishop or the Pope could absolve. The 1983 Code does not refer to reserved sins, but notes that some sins carry certain penalties (such as censure, or latae sententiae excommunication) that may in some cases require a bishop to lift the penalty. <—I corrected this as I believe Montrose is right that any priest can absolve the sin, but the bishop or Pope would need to lift the penalty of excommunication on the person.

The 1983 Canon Law code section is complicated, but your marriage situations do not appear to be on the list of these sins. Catholics don’t get excommunicated for being married in front of a non-Catholic minister. Typically the sins that nowadays fall in this “excommunication” category for lay Catholics would be abortion, desecrating the Eucharist, using physical force against the Pope, promoting some non-Catholic religion or heresy, and disobeying the order of one’s bishop (for example, the bishop may tell his flock they are forbidden to join a certain organization like the Masons and the person joins or remains a member anyway).

As someone else said, your priest who dealt with your annulment and marriage in the Church would have sent you to the Bishop if this was needed before you got married. I think you can be at peace about this. Regarding your mom, I don’t know what year she got married so if it was before 1983 the old Code of Canon Law would apply, if it was after 1983 she’s in the same position as you.

If you are concerned about this I would suggest speaking to your parish priest, but I am not really seeing a reason for you to be alarmed assuming you were married after 1983.

As a general note, while it can be interesting to read old “traditional Catholic” books, please be aware that a lot of them reflect the Code of Canon Law prior to 1983, or old non-official versions of the Catechism such as the Baltimore Catechism (which was never an official Catechism of the Church) and you are always better off referring to the current official Catechism and the current official Code of Canon Law, both of which are freely available for reading on the Vatican’s own website.

 

[1ke]

Adding that I found the name of the book. It’s My Catholic Faith - Sarto Publishing, Baltimore Catechism No 3

The Baltimore Catechism is not the current Catechism and does not reflect current Catholic laws on marriage or MANY other disciplinary topics.

Please use the current Catechism for study of the faith so as to avoid such confusion and unnecessary panic.

 

[HomeschoolDad]

Adding that I found the name of the book. It’s My Catholic Faith - Sarto Publishing, Baltimore Catechism No 3

LOVE My Catholic Faith! (The book, as well as the Catholic Faith itself, just to state the obvious.) I’m assuming you are referring to two separate books — BC#3 is not the same thing. I got MCF at a Goodwill or somewhere for pocket change, and just said “wow!”. I didn’t know such a book existed.

As others have pointed out, though, these books do not reflect the 1983 CIC, as well as other disciplinary changes. As far as differences in doctrinal emphasis (ecumenism, religious liberty, etc.), it might provide a good opportunity to look at “before” and “after”, and to answer various questions that could come up. I’ve never found that to be a bad thing — it’s a good antidote to what I call “recentism”, that is, only paying attention to teachings from recent years, while being oblivious to the fact that prior teachings, practices, and emphases even existed.