Does Canon Law Provide for This Situation?

[JobinFan70]

I was taken in to the Catholic Church without my consent. I was twelve years old at the time, and my mother had just married a Catholic man. She converted for him, and told me I had to convert as well. Going through RCIA with her, I was never told that I had a choice in the matter. The one time that the priest asked me why I wanted to convert, I told him that mom said I had to, and he just sort of laughed it off.

I haven’t practiced Catholicism since I was about eighteen. I was baptised as an infant, by a Methodist minister, and lately I’ve been going to a Methodist church with my girlfriend and her son. A man there told me that the Catholic Church still considers me Catholic, and a google search led me to this forum.

I hope to marry my girlfriend soon, but it would certainly not be a Catholic wedding and I’m not comfortable with the idea that a billion people (including my mom and stepfather) would consider the marriage invalid. I’m not too keen on the idea that I’d need a Catholic bishop’s permission, either.

What I’d really like is some kind of declaration of nullity of my confirmation, since my consent was seriously impaired. Does Canon law provide for this sort of situation?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Confirmation is valid unless the individual repudiated its reception in his mind and will at the time of the sacrament. Reluctantly going along with the sacrament is still a valid reception of the sacrament.

As for not being “comfortable with the idea that a billion people would consider the marriage invalid” I have one question for you: what do you care? I have no care what other Christian or non-Christian groups think about my Catholic faith, so why would you as a Methodist care what Catholics think or teach?

I think this is an opportunity for you to grow into a more “adult” faith. Why is it that you care so much what the Catholic Church teaches on this matter? Is it perhaps a pull you feel back to the Church? Is it doubts about your Methodist faith? Are you simply uncomfortable with potential family disharmony? You are an adult fully capable of making your own decisions and accepting the responsibility for them. Stop worrying about what others think and search your own heart and soul and listen to the Lord.