How does interfaith marriages work in the Catholic church?

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Are Catholics allowed to marry other Christians, or non-Christians? Could a Jewish person marry a Catholic? Let’s say that a non-Catholic wants to marry a member of the church, but they won’t agree on how their future children would be raised. Would the couple be allowed to marry inside the church by a priest, so how does that work?

Sorry that I’m full of questions about this topic.
 
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A Catholic can marry a non-Catholic. A dispensation is required.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Mixed marriages and disparity of cult
1633 In many countries the situation of a mixed marriage (marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) often arises. It requires particular attention on the part of couples and their pastors. A case of marriage with disparity of cult (between a Catholic and a non-baptized person) requires even greater circumspection.
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1634 Difference of confession between the spouses does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle for marriage, when they succeed in placing in common what they have received from their respective communities, and learn from each other the way in which each lives in fidelity to Christ. But the difficulties of mixed marriages must not be underestimated. They arise from the fact that the separation of Christians has not yet been overcome. The spouses risk experiencing the tragedy of Christian disunity even in the heart of their own home. Disparity of cult can further aggravate these difficulties. Differences about faith and the very notion of marriage, but also different religious mentalities, can become sources of tension in marriage, especially as regards the education of children. The temptation to religious indifference can then arise.
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1635 According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage needs for liceity the express permission of ecclesiastical authority.137 In case of disparity of cult an express dispensation from this impediment is required for the validity of the marriage.138 This permission or dispensation presupposes that both parties know and do not exclude the essential ends and properties of marriage; and furthermore that the Catholic party confirms the obligations, which have been made known to the non-Catholic party, of preserving his or her own faith and ensuring the baptism and education of the children in the Catholic Church.139
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1636 Through ecumenical dialogue Christian communities in many regions have been able to put into effect a common pastoral practice for mixed marriages. Its task is to help such couples live out their particular situation in the light of faith, overcome the tensions between the couple’s obligations to each other and towards their ecclesial communities, and encourage the flowering of what is common to them in faith and respect for what separates them.
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1637 In marriages with disparity of cult the Catholic spouse has a particular task: "For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband."140 It is a great joy for the Christian spouse and for the Church if this “consecration” should lead to the free conversion of the other spouse to the Christian faith.141 Sincere married love, the humble and patient practice of the family virtues, and perseverance in prayer can prepare the non-believing spouse to accept the grace of conversion.
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Some weddings I’ve attended have two ministers on the altar-a Catholic priest, and a minister from the other faith. As far as i know, they would need to talk to the priest about the raising of their children as Catholics; that is expected in the Catholic church.
 
Yes, you can do it.

I did.

Paul is correct.

I’m Catholic and my husband is not. He is Jewish. We married in a civil ceremony and then had our marriage convalidated. We had to get a dispensation to do so.

Our marriage is not sacramental but is valid.

We went through Pre-Cana classes back at the time, and met with the Pastor of the parish that I attended, and that my husband would also then attend with me. We met with the Pastor several times, both together and individually, too.

My husband agreed to raise any possible children that we might have, as Catholics.

Unfortunately, we were never able to have any children. ☹️

He will go to Mass and Adoration with me and does like to go to Catholic shrines with me, too.

My husband has always been someone who believes in God.

The differences in our religious upbringings have not hindered our marriage, but in our own personal situation have seemed to enrich it.

We always explain things to each other when either of us has any questions for each other.

I’ll try and cook foods for him that he likes to eat during the Jewish holidays, as a way of showing love and respect for his religious upbringing and as a way of honoring his family, too. I enjoy doing that for him. ❤️
 
Ogie_Reeves said:
Are Catholics allowed to marry other Christians, or non-Christians? Could a Jewish person marry a Catholic? Let’s say that a non-Catholic wants to marry a member of the church, but they won’t agree on how their future children would be raised. Would the couple be allowed to marry inside the church by a priest, so how does that work?
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yes, Catholics can married non-catholics, even non-christians. They have to get special dispensation and the non-catholic has to agree to raise the children in the catholic church.

I’m the product of a mixed marriage. My mother married a non-catholic christian in 1957. My sister is married to a non-catholic. I rebelled and married a Catholic. 😍
 
A catholic can marry a non-catholic, but you need a dispensation, and the non-catholic has to agree to not meddle in the Catholic faith of the children. I think they even have to sign.
In my experience, too many mixed marriages result in disaster…kids fall away from faith.
I do know someone who married a non-catholic, and their kids are still Catholic, and the husband recently converted to the Faith. So it’s a mixed bag.
 
I was married 23 years to a Presbyterian. We were married in my Catholic parish church by the pastor at a Nuptial Mass. We both had to show baptismal certificates, agree to raise the children Catholic (which he was fine with doing, but we also ended up not having any children) and do the Catholic Pre-Cana. His grandfather and uncle and aunt were Catholic, as were many of his neighbors where he grew up, so my Catholicism was not a big issue.

During much of our marriage I was not actively practicing my faith. This was entirely my fault and not due to him at all. I did not practice Presbyterianism (nor did he) and I didn’t have a doctrinal issue. I was just lazy and a sinner. I also committed other sins which again were all my fault and not his.

The last few years I reformed a lot of my slack ways and started practicing my faith actively again, praying a lot and trying to get him to convert. He would come to church or pray with me sometimes and he believed strongly in God and Jesus but was not ready to convert. If he were here now I would be badgering him to sign up for RCIA. God had other ideas. He died in March.

We had a happy marriage. I do not for one minute regret marrying him. I had opportunities to marry Catholic guys several times but didn’t want to (one of those people had a substance abuse problem and died and another is now divorced and remarried). I am quite sure God chose my husband and me to be married to each other regardless of religion. I also think being married to my husband helped encourage me back to the Church in the end by providing a stable environment where I could get back to practicing.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
We had a happy marriage. I do not for one minute regret marrying him. I had opportunities to marry Catholic guys several times but didn’t want to (one of those people had a substance abuse problem and died and another is now divorced and remarried). I am quite sure God chose my husband and me to be married to each other regardless of religion. I also think being married to my husband helped encourage me back to the Church in the end by providing a stable environment where I could get back to practicing.
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And, that has to be quite a blessing!

I keep telling my young adult daughter than when the time is right, God will introduce her to her future husband and he will be exactly the person God intends for her to marry. She’s not very patient though.
 
Yes, a Catholic can marry a non-Catholic. If the non-Catholic is a baptized Christian, the marriage will be sacramental. Permission (not a dispensation) is required. The wedding should be held in a Catholic church. The Catholic spouse (not the non-Catholic) promises to do his/her best to raise the children as Catholics

If the non-Catholic is not baptized, a dispensation is required and the marriage is valid but not sacramental. The same requirements regarding children apply

If the non-Christian is baptized after the wedding at some point, the marriage automatically becomes sacramental.
 
BridgetN said:
A catholic can marry a non-catholic, but you need a dispensation, and the non-catholic has to agree to not meddle in the Catholic faith of the children. I think they even have to sign.
In my experience, too many mixed marriages result in disaster…kids fall away from faith.
I do know someone who married a non-catholic, and their kids are still Catholic, and the husband recently converted to the Faith. So it’s a mixed bag.
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My husband didn’t have to sign anything at the time, and he didn’t have to make any promise not to meddle in anything regarding the faith of any children that we might have.

Nothing like that happened, as we were meeting with the Pastor, and everything was discussed openly in the Pre-Cana meetings. 🙂

As I mentioned, we had to meet with the Pastor in Pre-Cana meetings, just like any couple would who would be marrying in the Catholic Church. All of this was discussed during those meetings that we had with the Pastor at the time.

As I mentioned in my post up above, my husband did agree that we would raise them in the Catholic faith.

God bless you. 🙂
 
Yep, basically what everyone else said.

My wife needed to get a dispensation saying it was OK that she married me (baptized NC), we had to do all of the pre wedding classes and I needed to sign a paper stating that I was informed of the requirement my wife had to raise the kids Catholic.

Only real difference is that many times at a Catholic/non-Catholic wedding the ceremony does not include communion. Some do, some don’t, but from my understanding most don’t. We didn’t have communion at ours.

Sometimes it can be a chore locating a church as well. Our first choice wouldn’t perform our marriage, we had to go 25min down the road.
 
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