Civilly married now converting to Catholicism

[umgriz932001]

Hi,
I was married by a Justice of the Peace in the summer of 2006. My husband and I are happily married and have two children (born after we were wed). I am joining th church and attending RCIA right now. I have read that I can’t receive Holy Communion till our marriage is blessed. What exactly does that entail? Does my husband have to join for our marriage to be blessed? I know that he would do what we had to for me to recieve Communion, as he is fully supporting me in joining the Church. He just isn’t interested right now.
Thanks for the help.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Talk with your pastor in order to get straight answers that deal with your particular situation.

If this is the first marriage for each of you and neither of you were baptized Catholic, you shouldn’t need to do anything further. But your pastor will be the best one to guide you.

 

[umgriz932001]

I forgot to put that we were both Bapitized, but not in the Catholic church. He was Bapitized in a Methodist church and I was Bapitized twice, once as a baby in the Lutheran church and when I was 18 in a non-demo church. Thank you for your answer.

 

[ConstantineTG]

First question, are you validly baptized Christians? If you are not, then what you have is a valid natural marriage. Once you are Baptized and Confirmed and received into the Church, your natural marriage will become a Sacramental one (both have to be Baptized, not just one).

If you are validly baptized by a Protestant minister, then you can talk to the priest and have your marriage convalidated. He will time it perfectly that you will be in a state of Grace at the time you receive your first Communion.

 

[mswood]

It all depends if at the time of your marriage was either you or your husband Catholic (either of you be previously baptized and/or confirmed Catholic)? If you where both non-Catholic on your wedding day, and neither of you had been previously married then you current marriage is valid and should not need any further blessing/convalidation.

However, if either of you where Catholic at the time of your wedding, or if either of you had been previously married there are steps you need to take to have your marriage be considered valid in the church, if this is the case I recommend you speak with your priest ASAP.

 

[mswood]

I forgot to put that we were both Bapitized, but not in the Catholic church. He was Bapitized in a Methodist church and I was Bapitized twice, once as a baby in the Lutheran church and when I was 18 in a non-demo church. Thank you for your answer.

I read this after my first post. Since neither you or your husband where Catholic at the time of your marriage and you are both (I assume) validly baptized christians in a legally binding marriage you are in a Valid Sacramental marriage and should not need convalidation to join the church.

The only reason you might need convalidation of your marriage is if either you or your husband where ever married before. Then you would need a decleration of nullity (annulment) of the previous marriage before you could have your marriage convalidated and be considered valid.

 

[ConstantineTG]

It all depends if at the time of your marriage was either you or your husband Catholic (either of you be previously baptized and/or confirmed Catholic)? If you where both non-Catholic on your wedding day, and neither of you had been previously married then you current marriage is valid and should not need any further blessing/convalidation.

However, if either of you where Catholic at the time of your wedding, or if either of you had been previously married there are steps you need to take to have your marriage be considered valid in the church, if this is the case I recommend you speak with your priest ASAP.

I believe if they were married in their Protestant Church, that marriage would be considered Sacramental. But since they were married before a judge, it may not.

I could be wrong and you could be right, but I think there’s a difference with Protestants getting a Protestant marriage, and Protestants getting civil marriage

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

We were both heathens,never married before, married in civil ceremony, went into RCIA together, and the priest urged us to have our marriage ‘sanctified.’

Talk to the priest! The rest of us can only guess.

 

[Phemie]

Hi,
I was married by a Justice of the Peace in the summer of 2006. My husband and I are happily married and have two children (born after we were wed). I am joining th church and attending RCIA right now. I have read that I can’t receive Holy Communion till our marriage is blessed. What exactly does that entail? Does my husband have to join for our marriage to be blessed? I know that he would do what we had to for me to recieve Communion, as he is fully supporting me in joining the Church. He just isn’t interested right now.
Thanks for the help.

As others have said, providing that this is the first marriage for both of you, being baptized means you are in a sacramental marriage since I don’t know of a Protestant denomination that doesn’t recognize a civil marriage. No further action needs be taken.

On the other hand, a previous marriage for either of you changes the situation completely and the married party would have to petition for a decree of nullity, which may or may not be granted.

Speak to your pastor for a more authoritative response.

 

[ConstantineTG]

As others have said, providing that this is the first marriage for both of you, being baptized means you are in a sacramental marriage since I don’t know of a Protestant denomination that doesn’t recognize a civil marriage. No further action needs be taken.

On the other hand, a previous marriage for either of you changes the situation completely and the married party would have to petition for a decree of nullity, which may or may not be granted.

Speak to your pastor for a more authoritative response.

I thought it would matter if the minister married them or not? At the very least their minister would have been a representative witness of their church, whereas a judge is not. Then again, its just a guess of mine.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I thought it would matter if the minister married them or not? At the very least their minister would have been a representative witness of their church, whereas a judge is not. Then again, its just a guess of mine.

If their church recognized the marriage as valid then it is valid, with or without a minister.

As far as I know, only Catholics and Orthodox require clergy to be present.

 

[curlycool89]

I thought it would matter if the minister married them or not? At the very least their minister would have been a representative witness of their church, whereas a judge is not. Then again, its just a guess of mine.

From the perspective of the Catholic Church, 2 non-Catholics can get married in any way, shape or form they want to (as long as something absolutely necessary wasn’t missing, like if they were unable to give consent at the time of the marriage or if they never intended to have children or something like that).

What would make a Methodist minister any different than a Justice of the Peace in that regard too? Both of the are in arbitrary non-ordained leadership positions. Both of them are laymen, so there’s no real difference.

 

[PJM]

=umgriz932001;7338783]Hi,
I was married by a Justice of the Peace in the summer of 2006. My husband and I are happily married and have two children (born after we were wed). I am joining th church and attending RCIA right now. I have read that I can’t receive Holy Communion till our marriage is blessed. What exactly does that entail? Does my husband have to join for our marriage to be blessed? I know that he would do what we had to for me to recieve Communion, as he is fully supporting me in joining the Church. He just isn’t interested right now.
Thanks for the help.

Marriage Blesng is simply a way to allow the Church to acknowledge your marriage as vaild, and to BLess your Union at the sme time,

No hubby does not have to join the church BUT will have to agree as do you, to raise your children in the Catholic Faith.

Welcome Home!

God Bless, Pat

 

[Phemie]

Marriage Blesng is simply a way to allow the Church to acknowledge your marriage as vaild, and to BLess your Union at the sme time,

No hubby does not have to join the church BUT will have to agree as do you, to raise your children in the Catholic Faith.

Welcome Home!

God Bless, Pat

Wait a minute, no he won’t.

Unless there is something the OP hasn’t told us, her marriage appears to be valid. Usually the term ‘having marriage blessed’ is a term the average person uses for convalidation - if their marriage is already valid, no convalidation is necessary.

Even if they do need a convalidation, the non-Catholic doesn’t have to agree to raising the children Catholic. Only the Catholic party has to promise that. The non-Catholic is made aware of the promise but doesn’t need to promise anything in return.

 

[ConstantineTG]

From the perspective of the Catholic Church, 2 non-Catholics can get married in any way, shape or form they want to (as long as something absolutely necessary wasn’t missing, like if they were unable to give consent at the time of the marriage or if they never intended to have children or something like that).

What would make a Methodist minister any different than a Justice of the Peace in that regard too? Both of the are in arbitrary non-ordained leadership positions. Both of them are laymen, so there’s no real difference.

That is why I pointed that a minister is a representative of their faith. A lay person too, in extreme cases with explicit approval from the Bishop, can witness a marriage for the Roman Church and make it valid and Sacramental.

 

[1ke]

I thought it would matter if the minister married them or not?

No. It does not. Non-Catholic marry validly wherever they do it. For Catholics, the priest is not the *minister *of the sacrament, the priest is the *witness *for the Church. The *couple *adminster the sacrament via the exchange of consent. Therefore, a non-Catholic minister and a civil magistrate are no different. Their presence adds nothing. They are witnesses for the state only.

At the very least their minister would have been a representative witness of their church, whereas a judge is not.

Nope. The Chuch doesn’t care who witnessed the marriage for the state. There is no requirement of form in any ecclesial community, because they have no sacramental theology. The Orthodox do have a required form, and the Catholic Church recognizes that.

Then again, its just a guess of mine.

Two non-Catholics who are otherwise free to marry (no prior marriages, etc) marry validly when they marry civilly. If they marry in front of a minister, the minister is simply the state witness.

 

[1ke]

Marriage Blesng is simply a way to allow the Church to acknowledge your marriage as vaild, and to BLess your Union at the sme time,

This is not true.

No hubby does not have to join the church BUT will have to agree as do you, to raise your children in the Catholic Faith.

This is not true either.

 

[5Loaves]

No. It does not. Non-Catholic marry validly wherever they do it. **For Catholics, the priest is not the *minister ***of the sacrament, the priest is the *witness *for the Church. The *couple *adminster the sacrament via the exchange of consent.

Just to clarify that that is true for the Latin Church. The priest is the minister of the Mystery of Holy Crowning (marriage) in Eastern Catholic Churches. A Deacon may also be the witness for a marriage in the Latin Church in lieu of a priest, but only a priest may be the minister of the sacrament in the Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches.

 

[ConstantineTG]

Just to clarify that that is true for the Latin Church. The priest is the minister of the Mystery of Holy Crowning (marriage) in Eastern Catholic Churches. A Deacon may also be the witness for a marriage in the Latin Church in lieu of a priest, but only a priest may be the minister of the sacrament in the Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches.

In fact even a dully appointed lay person can witness a marriage in behalf of the Church.

 

[1ke]

Just to clarify that that is true for the Latin Church. The priest is the minister of the Mystery of Holy Crowning (marriage) in Eastern Catholic Churches. A Deacon may also be the witness for a marriage in the Latin Church in lieu of a priest, but only a priest may be the minister of the sacrament in the Eastern and Oriental Catholic Churches.

Yes, of course this is true. However, when answering these questions I try not to confuse the issue with exceptions. 99.99% of people entering the Church who post on here asking questions enter the Latin Rite. Sorry, but I didn’t see any reason to raise this unless the person was speaking specifically about an Eatern Rite.