Getting married at home?

[PetrusRomanus]

Can a person be married in their home? This doesn’t seem correct but can anybody give me reasoning or a source or link to the Catechism whereit says this?

Its not for me, im trying to explain it to a friend.

 

[1ke]

Can a person be married in their home?

Is this person Catholic or marrying a Catholic? If so, then they must follow the requirements established in canon law.

If not, then they can get married wherever they want.

This doesn’t seem correct but can anybody give me reasoning or a source or link to the Catechism whereit says this?

Its not for me, im trying to explain it to a friend.

Two Catholics marrying each other would be bound by these canons. In order to be married by their priest somewhere other than their parish church, they would have to receive permission from their bishop. So, it is entirely up to the bishop. I suppose it would, on the whole, depend upon the reason they were asking for this and the bishop’s overall approach to such situations and any particular diocesan law already in place.

Can. 1108 §1. Only those marriages are valid which are contracted before the local ordinary, pastor, or a priest or deacon delegated by either of them, who assist, and before two witnesses according to the rules expressed in the following canons and without prejudice to the exceptions mentioned in cann. ⇒ 144, ⇒ 1112, §1, ⇒ 1116, and ⇒ 1127, §§1-2.

Can. 1115 Marriages are to be celebrated in a parish where either of the contracting parties has a domicile, quasidomicile, or month long residence or, if it concerns transients, in the parish where they actually reside. With the permission of the proper ordinary or proper pastor, marriages can be celebrated elsewhere.

If a Catholic is marrying a non-Catholic, then they must still follow canon law. But, the law allows for a dispensation from form. If granted by the bishop, then the Catholic may marry the non-Catholic in a non-Catholic venue. That could certainly include a home.

Can. 1127 §1. The prescripts of ⇒ can. 1108 are to be observed for the form to be used in a mixed marriage.

§2. If grave diffculties hinder the observance of canonical form, the local ordinary of the Catholic party has the right of dispensing from the form in individual cases, after having consulted the ordinary of the place in which the marriage is celebrated and with some public form of celebration for validity. It is for the conference of bishops to establish norms by which the aforementioned dispensation is to be granted in a uniform manner.

§3. It is forbidden to have another religious celebration of the same marriage to give or renew matrimonial consent before or after the canonical celebration according to the norm of §1. Likewise, there is not to be a religious celebration in which the Catholic who is assisting and a non-Catholic minister together, using their own rites, ask for the consent of the parties.

 

[PetrusRomanus]

They are both Catholics. They have both been cohabitating for years i dont know if this makes.a.difference in their being able to marry.

Also my.friend has expressed to me in the past not being open to life, but i dont know if he just said that or if hes.changed his mind now.

He has a bad habit of.compulsively lying, but his.girlfriend knows that.

He has asked me to be a witness but im.not.feeling.good.about.all this.

 

[1ke]

They are both Catholics.

Then they are both obligated to be married in Catholic form. So, getting married “at home” would require permisison of the bishop. They can always ask, but should not expect permission.

They need to talk to their pastor.

They have both been cohabitating for years i dont know if this makes.a.difference in their being able to marry.

Well, yes and no. It is not an impediment to valid marriage, and certainly rectifies the sinful situation they are currently in. But, many dioceses require cohabiting couples to go through specific premarital programs designed for those with a history of cohabiting. And of course, they are expected to cease sexual relations, etc. Bottom line-- they need to talk to their pastor.

Also my.friend has expressed to me in the past not being open to life, but i dont know if he just said that or if hes.changed his mind now.

Again, the couple would need to talk to their PASTOR.

He has a bad habit of.compulsively lying, but his.girlfriend knows that.

Again, they need to talk to their PASTOR.

He has asked me to be a witness but im.not.feeling.good.about.all this.

If they marry outside the Church you certainly should not stand as a witness. If they marry in the Church, but you still do not feel that you can stand as witness, then that is up to you to politely decline.

Encourage him to talk to his pastor.

 

[PetrusRomanus]

I have encouraged him to talk to his pastor but i dont think hes done that, even though he says he has. My.friend had no idea that Catholics dont generally get married at home and doesnt even know about the premarital class stuff, he says the pastor never mentioned any of that.

At the end of the day, if it ends up taking place in a Catholic Church, am I safe to assume the pastor went through everything with them and discussed all that needed to be discussed? And therefore would be safe to.participate?

I brought up his not being open to life and lying because if he lies to the pastor and the pastor asks if theres any good reason they should.not be married, would that require anything of me?

I am beginning to.feel this to be too complicated and thinking about backing out.

 

[1ke]

At the end of the day, if it ends up taking place in a Catholic Church, am I safe to assume the pastor went through everything with them and discussed all that needed to be discussed? And therefore would be safe to.participate?

Yes, in general this is a perfectly fine assumption. Unless your friend actually **told **you that he was going to lie or did lie to the pastor.

I brought up his not being open to life and lying because if he lies to the pastor and the pastor asks if theres any good reason they should.not be married, would that require anything of me?

The pastor does not ask such a question as you reference above at the nuptials. That is in Hollywood movies, not in real life. Discovery of impediments is the purpose of the premarital investigation and published banns and is done **prior **to the wedding.

Can. 1066 Before a marriage is celebrated, it must be evident that nothing stands in the way of its valid and licit celebration.

Can. 1067 The conference of bishops is to establish norms about the examination of spouses and about the marriage banns or other opportune means to accomplish the investigations necessary before marriage. After these norms have been diligently observed, the pastor can proceed to assist at the marriage.

However, if you have knowledge of an impediment, you are obligated to disclose it:

Can. 1069 All the faithful are obliged to reveal any impediments they know about to the pastor or local ordinary before the celebration of the marriage.

 

[Hmgbrd]

Listen to 1ke. The pastor will know the procedure that is necessary for your Diocese. Your friend has probably not spoken to his pastor at all. In our Diocese the Bishop requires all Catholics to be married in a Church on holy ground. They are also required to go through marriage prep and if they are living together, they must live separately and chastely for 6 months minimum before the wedding. This policy is printed in the Sunday bulletin for all to read who are considering marriage.

 

[Iron_Donkey]

I have encouraged him to talk to his pastor but i dont think hes done that, even though he says he has. My.friend had no idea that Catholics dont generally get married at home and doesnt even know about the premarital class stuff, he says the pastor never mentioned any of that.

At the end of the day, if it ends up taking place in a Catholic Church, am I safe to assume the pastor went through everything with them and discussed all that needed to be discussed? And therefore would be safe to.participate?

I brought up his not being open to life and lying because if he lies to the pastor and the pastor asks if theres any good reason they should.not be married, would that require anything of me?

I am beginning to.feel this to be too complicated and thinking about backing out.

IF your friend is open to a slightly sarcastic joking response to this sort of thing, you might ask if he’s sure he talked to his priest, or if maybe he just bumped into someone who had spilt some white pain on their collar.

But yeah, what 1ke says.

 

[Peerce]

I’m too depressed by your username “PetrusRomanus” to offer much of an answer.