Convalidation of Marriage?

[Magnanimity]

Hi all!

Well, I hope you all aren’t too terribly tired of addressing issues like mine. In case you are, sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure I was informed rightly.

I could explain why I need this question answered, but that would overly complicate the question. Suffice it to say that I’m trying to be a sponsor on behalf of a catechumen, so the issue of the validation of my marriage came up recently.

Here is the situation:

• My wife and I have been married for nearly 8 years now. For each of us, it was our first marriage.
• Neither of us were Catholic at the time we were married. We eloped and were married by a Justice of the Peace in front of no witnesses but himself (and perhaps a secretary; no family were present).
• We came into full communion with the Catholic Church at the same time, same day in 2004. We had already been baptized in a Baptist church around the time of our elopment and the baptism was recognized as valid. But, we simultaneously were Confirmed and received our first Holy Communion.
• After this initiation ceremony, at a little reception celebrating our union with the Church, the pastor of the parish told us that given all the conditions listed above, our marriage was simultaneously convalidated at the Mass (or recognized as sacramental, I cannot now remember exactly his wording).

So, my question is was he right? Given all the facts above, is there anything in Canon Law or anywhere else to which I could turn for validation of what he said? I have read the section in Canon Law at vatican.va dealing with convalidation, but I cannot interpret if what is worded there touches on my situation. Or did the pastor have enough authority at the moment to decide that it was so? During the RCIA process, my wife and I thought that we were going to need a convalidation ceremony to have a cleric bless our marriage, so his comment to us was a little surprising.

Any thoughts or help you can give? I posted this here, since this is the category for sacraments and matrimony is a sacrament. I hope I’ve posted in the right place.

Please let me know of any insight you may have on this issue. Thanks a bunch. Ask me any questions if you need more clarification before you can answer.

 

[Catholic2003]

I would say that there was nothing that needed to be taken care of regarding your marriage, so that nothing really happened when you were received into the Catholic Church as regards your marriage.

Canon law states:

Canon 11 Merely ecclesiastical laws bind those who were baptised in the catholic Church or received into it, and who have a sufficient use of reason and, unless the law expressly provides otherwise, who have completed their seventh year of age.

Thus, when you married, you were not bound to Catholic ecclesiastical law regarding marriage, but only to divine law itself. So being married by a Justice of the Peace without any additional witnesses didn’t invalidate your marriage.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Magnanimity:

Hi all!

Well, I hope you all aren’t too terribly tired of addressing issues like mine. In case you are, sorry about that. I just wanted to make sure I was informed rightly.

I could explain why I need this question answered, but that would overly complicate the question. Suffice it to say that I’m trying to be a sponsor on behalf of a catechumen, so the issue of the validation of my marriage came up recently.

Here is the situation:

• My wife and I have been married for nearly 8 years now. For each of us, it was our first marriage.
• Neither of us were Catholic at the time we were married. We eloped and were married by a Justice of the Peace in front of no witnesses but himself (and perhaps a secretary; no family were present).
• We came into full communion with the Catholic Church at the same time, same day in 2004. We had already been baptized in a Baptist church around the time of our elopment and the baptism was recognized as valid. But, we simultaneously were Confirmed and received our first Holy Communion.
• After this initiation ceremony, at a little reception celebrating our union with the Church, the pastor of the parish told us that given all the conditions listed above, our marriage was simultaneously convalidated at the Mass (or recognized as sacramental, I cannot now remember exactly his wording).

So, my question is was he right? Given all the facts above, is there anything in Canon Law or anywhere else to which I could turn for validation of what he said? I have read the section in Canon Law at vatican.va dealing with convalidation, but I cannot interpret if what is worded there touches on my situation. Or did the pastor have enough authority at the moment to decide that it was so? During the RCIA process, my wife and I thought that we were going to need a convalidation ceremony to have a cleric bless our marriage, so his comment to us was a little surprising.

Any thoughts or help you can give? I posted this here, since this is the category for sacraments and matrimony is a sacrament. I hope I’ve posted in the right place.

Please let me know of any insight you may have on this issue. Thanks a bunch. Ask me any questions if you need more clarification before you can answer.

Did the Baptist church you were both members of have any problem with the validity of the Marriage?

 

[Magnanimity]

Br. Rich SFO:

Did the Baptist church you were both members of have any problem with the validity of the Marriage?

Thank you Br. We actually weren’t members there. My wife had been involved in some wildly charismatic version of Christianity when she was young and was only baptized “in the name of Jesus” since the poor minister thought he was being obedient to God in so doing by following those words in the Acts of the Apostles. Therefore, I knew at the time that she needed a valid baptism, and I wasn’t sure that I had ever been validly baptized either. So, we found out when they were having baptisms, and we went. But, we simply attended that Baptist church ever so often. We were never members, and they never asked about our marital status. I cannot now remember if we were baptized or eloped first. I would have to check the baptismal record. I have heard that if we eloped first, that later baptism would have “sacramentalized” the marriage, but I’ve never read this either from anything official.

I hope this helps, more than it confuses things.

 

[Magnanimity]

Catholic2003:

I would say that there was nothing that needed to be taken care of regarding your marriage, so that nothing really happened when you were received into the Catholic Church as regards your marriage.

Canon law states:
Quote:
Canon 11 Merely ecclesiastical laws bind those who were baptised in the catholic Church or received into it, and who have a sufficient use of reason and, unless the law expressly provides otherwise, who have completed their seventh year of age.

Thus, when you married, you were not bound to Catholic ecclesiastical law regarding marriage, but only to divine law itself. So being married by a Justice of the Peace without any additional witnesses didn’t invalidate your marriage.

Hi there. So on your understanding then, when was the eloped marriage “sacramentalized?” When we were baptized? Confirmed? And if we were baptized before the elopement, what then?

Or perhaps I should understand you as saying that only invalid marriages are in need of convalidation? And these invalidities usually involve one or more of the marriage partners being Catholic at the time of marriage? Such that when the pastor asks me if I was married in the Catholic Church, and I say “no,” and yet explain the situation, this should be sufficient because all the ecclesiastical laws &c. are binding merely on the Catholic?

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

Magnanimity:

Thank you Br. We actually weren’t members there. My wife had been involved in some wildly charismatic version of Christianity when she was young and was only baptized “in the name of Jesus” since the poor minister thought he was being obedient to God in so doing by following those words in the Acts of the Apostles. Therefore, I knew at the time that she needed a valid baptism, and I wasn’t sure that I had ever been validly baptized either. So, we found out when they were having baptisms, and we went. But, we simply attended that Baptist church ever so often. We were never members, and they never asked about our marital status. I cannot now remember if we were baptized or eloped first. I would have to check the baptismal record. I have heard that if we eloped first, that later baptism would have “sacramentalized” the marriage, but I’ve never read this either from anything official.

I hope this helps, more than it confuses things.

That is correct. If a Baptized person validly marries a non-Baptized person and the Non-Baptized is Baptized later. The Marriage becomes a Sacrament at the moment of the Baptism of the non-Baptized person. Any valid Marriage between two validly Baptized persons is always a Sacrament. So as long as you married according to the rules of the denomination that you were members of at the time of the Marriage and were free to Marry and nothing impeded the Marriage like the degree of relationship or force, etc. Then it was a valid marriage and the Sacramentality depends on the Baptismal status of the people.

 

[Catholic2003]

Magnanimity:

Hi there. So on your understanding then, when was the eloped marriage “sacramentalized?” When we were baptized? Confirmed? And if we were baptized before the elopement, what then?

Br. Rich already covered this very well.

Magnanimity:

Or perhaps I should understand you as saying that only invalid marriages are in need of convalidation?

Correct. Only invalid marriages need to be convalidated. Only invalid marriages can be convalidated.

Magnanimity:

And these invalidities usually involve one or more of the marriage partners being Catholic at the time of marriage?

That is a common cause. Another common cause is prior marriage and divorce of one of the parties. But there could other causes as well.

Magnanimity:

Such that when the pastor asks me if I was married in the Catholic Church, and I say “no,” and yet explain the situation, this should be sufficient because all the ecclesiastical laws &c. are binding merely on the Catholic?

Correct. You weren’t married in the Catholic Church. You didn’t need to be, because you and your wife weren’t Catholic when you got married.

 

[gvdennis]

I’m interested in the subject of convalidation and have been following this tread. I’m a novice at this forum so excuse me if I stumble here and there.

Let me begin by saying that my wife and I are cradle Catholics.

When we met in 1998, I had been away from the Church for 30+ years. We were initially married by a Protestant minister in 1998 but wanted to return to full communion and the sacraments in the Catholic Church. In order to return, I filed for and eventually rec’d a Decree of Nullity for a former marriage. While we waited for the decree, we did not receive Eucharist, but attended Mass faithfully.

As soon as I rec’d the decree in 2000, we arranged to have our marriage convalidated by our parish priest. The necessary paperwork was in order and the date was set. When we arrived at the parish office we sat down w/ the pastor. We discussed the need for reconcilation. He asked us if we wanted individual confessions or general absolution and “explained the difference.” We didn’t know the significance and chose the general absolution. With a wave of the hand and a sign of the cross our sins were forgiven, there was no Act of Contrition asked for or given. This is a separate issue that I bring up as it sets the stage for the convalidation, two wrongs don’t make a right.

Soon after, the pastor began the ceremony. The pastor, my wife and I stood, while we repeated the necessary vows. There were only the three of us present.

My question is about the validity of the convalidation. My research into the event concerns the apparent Lack of Form, in this instance the absence of the required two witnesses. I’ve been told from a reliable source that unless the priest had special dispensation from the diocesan bishop for the absence of witnesses, that the ceremony may not be valid (licit?).

This correct information is extemely important to us. I was advised to contact my diocesan Chancellor or Vicar, but haven’t had a chance. Any advice is very much appreciated.