Do Converts Married As Protestant Need to Have Marriage Blessed Somehow?

[bitznbitez]

My wife and I are going thru RCIA. We are the simple case of a husband and wife, both born and raised protestant, married only once by a protestant minister and have remained married to the present time of our reception into full communion with the Church.

Obviously there are no impediments from this to be received into communion. All of this was disclosed to the local parish when we filled out our papers for participation in RCIA some time ago.

Is there anything we will need to do to have our marriage blessed/made sacramental ?

The topic came up in RCIA and when I asked I was told to “see the priest”. Not a big deal to me to see him but I do ponder why there isn’t a standing answer to what seems to me to be the simplest scenario of conversion.

So when we see the priest what will he say ? Yes there is some blessing or something he needs to do or no there is nothing he needs to do ?

 

[Nechasin]

The Catholic church recognizes marriages between Protestants as valid and I don’t believe there should be any problem if it is a simple as you say. Usually the issues come when one was Catholic, but left the church, gets married, and then comes back to the church. Talk to your priest, but I wouldn’t be worried about it.

 

[achmafooma]

My wife and I are going thru RCIA. We are the simple case of a husband and wife, both born and raised protestant, married only once by a protestant minister and have remained married to the present time of our reception into full communion with the Church.

Obviously there are no impediments from this to be received into communion. All of this was disclosed to the local parish when we filled out our papers for participation in RCIA some time ago.

Is there anything we will need to do to have our marriage blessed/made sacramental ?

The topic came up in RCIA and when I asked I was told to “see the priest”. Not a big deal to me to see him but I do ponder why there isn’t a standing answer to what seems to me to be the simplest scenario of conversion.

So when we see the priest what will he say ? Yes there is some blessing or something he needs to do or no there is nothing he needs to do ?

Hello, bitznbitez!

As an RCIA leader, I can sympathize with your RCIA folks who asked you to see the Priest. I try to give people straight answers as much as possible, but in the end the Priest (specifically the pastor of the parish) has the authority in Sacramental matters, and may know something that I missed. I would hate to tell somebody that everything is fine, and then find out that there’s some unusual or unexpected impediment!

Based on what you’ve said, it sounds like there should be no issues. You will probably not need to have your marriage recognized (‘convalidated’) by the Church or have anything else done. Protestant (and even non-Christian) marriages are normally presumed valid. You will probably need to provide a marriage certificate to the Church to go into your Sacramental record.

The typical exception is when one or both of the spouses was previously married, in which case there would need to get an annulment(s) before the Church will recognize the current marriage as valid. Another exception is when one or both of them were Baptized Catholics [who are bound by the Canon law requiring them to be married in the Church, even if they have ‘fallen away’]…in that case, the marriage would need to be convalidated.

My recommendation is, when you speak to the Priest, just say that you think you’re ‘in the clear,’ but you want to be certain that there are no impediments or anything that needs to be done before the Easter Vigil. He may ask some questions, but based on what you’ve said the answer will likely be, “You’re fine, don’t worry about it!”

God bless you in your RCIA journey!

 

[pablope]

My wife and I are going thru RCIA.

The topic came up in RCIA and when I asked I was told to “see the priest”. Not a big deal to me to see him but I do ponder why there isn’t a standing answer to what seems to me to be the simplest scenario of conversion.

So when we see the priest what will he say ? Yes there is some blessing or something he needs to do or no there is nothing he needs to do ?

The RCIA team probably did not want to give you the wrong answer. Sometimes, sacramental matters are best left to your priest, who has final say, not the RCIA team.

Anyway, if he says you are ok…you may look towards on your next anniversary, have a renewal of vows during the mass…just an option for you to think about.

 

[Usige]

Based on what you have said you are already in a valid sacramental marriage. I was raised and baptized Presbyterian and my wife was unbaptised when we were married during a Presbyterian ceremony. When she converted to the Catholic Church they said she needed to get our marriage “blessed” (code word for convalidated) since it wasn’t a Catholic wedding. After talking to the priest he agreed that since neither of us were Catholic our marriage was already valid regardless if it was done in the Catholic Church. We went through the same thing when I was received into the Church 3 years later. And once again when we came to a new parish and were doing marriage prep/NFP (seems our marriage wasn’t noted on our sacramental records).

In generally many people that run RCIA programs don’t know what to do with people who are not married in the Church. Many converts are married to a Catholic spouse so they are often confused and fall back on a default that those married outside the Church are in invalid marriages. Also most who run RCIA programs have little training on the sacramental nature of marriage or the associated canon law around marriage. The pastor on the other hand should have said training.

Long and short the priest should be able to look at what you said and confirm the validity of your marriage based on Canon 1060 (Marriage possesses the favor of law; therefore, in a case of doubt, the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven.) Since neither of you were Catholic when you married Canon 1059 exempts you form being bound to be married in the Catholic Church.

One thing to note, based on what you have said you are in a sacramental marriage. Make sure they record your marriage in the baptismal register. We have found that many parishes are reluctant to record non-Catholic marriages of candidates in the baptismal register, but according to canon 535§2 “… those things which pertain to the canonical status of the Christian faithful by reason of marriage …” are required to be noted in sacramental records. From a canonical standpoint you are married and it should therefore be noted. Too often parish staffs refuse to record anything other than the Catholic marriage or convalidation. This is contrary to canon 1060.

 

[1ke]

Is there anything we will need to do to have our marriage blessed/made sacramental?

No.

Your marriage is already valid and if both of you are baptized it is already a sacrament. If one or both of you is unbaptized, it will become a sacrament upon both of you being baptized.

The topic came up in RCIA and when I asked I was told to “see the priest”. Not a big deal to me to see him but I do ponder why there isn’t a standing answer to what seems to me to be the simplest scenario of conversion.

You do not need to see the pastor and I have no idea why an RCIA director would not know that your marriage is already valid.

So when we see the priest what will he say ? Yes there is some blessing or something he needs to do or no there is nothing he needs to do ?

Frankly, you do not need to see the priest.

You can ask for the Nuptial Blessing-- which is NOT a convalidation of your marriage but rather simply a blessing the priest says over the married couple. Anyone who has not yet received the Nuptial Blessing may receive it. It is a nice blessing. But do not be confused that this is doing anything other than blessing the two of you-- your marriage is already valid.