It most certainly does. I read a book by a NYT best-selling author who had two characters start a conversation over a bucket of chicken, then reach for a slice of pizza in the middle of the scene, only to finish up with them gathering the napkins and stuffing them into the bucket and throwing it into the trash. The same book also had the main character driving a Ford Silverado. I mean, come on…
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Rau
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If a “sham” wedding would do, solutions would be more readily available.
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Zellballen
Guest
Wow! 6mo to 1 year of marriage prep! The rules must be very different based on which diocese you’re in or have changed a lot since I got married (10 years ago), as my home diocese only required a 3 day weekend prep class and a separate meeting/interview with the priest for myself and my husband.
Sorry this was a bit off topic for the OP.
Sorry this was a bit off topic for the OP.
That’s not true.
A marriage may be done before 6 months of preparation. it’s unsual but can happen.
The volunteer woman we had at the rectory read her papers, and said the minimum time is 3 months (canon law or something like that, correct me if you want).
We were married after 4 months 1/2 in the Church. I wasn’t pregnant, and it was just a few years ago.
Exceptions may be made. It depend of the pastor.
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1ke
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I was responding to the question the OP asked, about an “impromptu marriage” and a marriage on “short notice”.
Exactly, what he was looking for was a Catholic “shotgun” wedding. No way could they pull it off to hide a pregnancy, since it will be obvious (as Ann Landers once commented when someone asked if it was possible for a 7 month old marriage to produce an 8lb. “premature” baby) the baby was on time, the wedding was late.
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Lara
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I would have the characters get married legally and plan to have the marriage convalidated later.
They would have to live celibately until then.
They would have to live celibately until then.
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otjm
Guest
Well, if it was an 8 hour per day weekend, that would be 24 hours; in 6 months there are 26 weeks; and I doubt too many marriage prep classes cover 26 full hours of work - so doing the math, it all got crammed down a bit - or not. Pretty close to the same amount of face time.
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otjm
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“They would be required to…” might be a bit more accurate; as they have not been continent (not celibate) already.
Celibacy means “not married”.
Continent means “not having sexual activity”.
Chaste means living according to the moral requirements of one’s status in life; married couples are required to live chastely, which does not mean not having sexual intercourse.
And most people confuse the terms.
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otjm
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Way back when (a long time ago in a … etc) I wass of the opinion that yes, the writer is supposed to catch things and do research; but there should be at least one if not more editors who go over the manuscript, so it would seem there are multiple people failing to do their job.
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Jen7
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But they had to publish bans of marriage in the bulletin and newspaper for two weeks. Wasn’t that church law before Vatican II??
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Jen7
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Perhaps a better way to hide the whole thing would be to start marriage prep as soon as they discover the pregnancy. Women usually don’t “show” during their first pregnancy until at least 6 months. I know women who have just chosen a loose fitting wedding gown. Very pretty still, but not showing off a waist that may be a tiny bit thicker than usual.
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Jen7
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That sounds like a fun story! Write it for us, blue rose!
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Gorgias
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Except that, at this point, you’re no longer trying to ask what really happens in the Church; you’re just writing a farce, so all bets are off.
(And, in the real world, that priest would be in a heap of trouble if he attempts a “sham wedding”.)
Not six months of continuous prep. Six months of elapsed time, normally, before the ceremony.
@CeaselessMedik: are you talking about a situation in which the priest knows that the ‘shotgun wedding’ is what’s intended – that is, that he also is “in on” the “hiding the fact of the pregnancy”? Or, that the couple is hiding it from him, too?
If the former, then what motivation are you giving the priest for participating in the deception? If the latter, how does the couple attempt to justify the short timeframe in such a way that the priest permits it?
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Phemie
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One parish I know has one marriage preparation session per year, in March. Tough luck if you decide in April that you’d like to get married that year.
We’ve occasionally had couples from that parish approach us looking for a summer or fall wedding. Usually it’s because one, or both, were raised in our parish and the relatives still live here. Their pastor is giving them permission to marry outside the parish but it’s dependent on our Pastor being willing to prepare the couple. They agree to make the 700 mile return trip a couple of times to meet with him.
We’ve occasionally had couples from that parish approach us looking for a summer or fall wedding. Usually it’s because one, or both, were raised in our parish and the relatives still live here. Their pastor is giving them permission to marry outside the parish but it’s dependent on our Pastor being willing to prepare the couple. They agree to make the 700 mile return trip a couple of times to meet with him.
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Phemie
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Three times, but it could be dispensed. You see that in the notes when you look at old marriage registers. But that would have involved the bishop so not a case of knocking at the rectory door late at night having Fr. marry you on the spot.
You are quite right, and in these sunset days of CAF, I suppose you caught me asleep at the wheel. I do know that I have heard of cases where a couple who (for whatever reason) could not get married in one parish — perhaps the pastor objected — would just go to a neighboring parish to marry. I don’t know what they did about the banns. And the banns could be dispensed with for a just reason.HomeschoolDad:
But they had to publish bans of marriage in the bulletin and newspaper for two weeks. Wasn’t that church law before Vatican II??
I didn’t mean the priest who prepared them did the “sham wedding”… just that he knew their “Catholic” wedding wasn’t valid, and he was secretly preparing them for a valid Catholic ceremony.
@Jen7 Maybe I should write this story…
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Zellballen
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That’s a great point! You’re probably right, most of the prep courses done over a longer period of time probably only do about an hour at a time. :+1:t3:
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Gorgias
Guest
OK… so, let’s think through this:
You and I are Catholic priests. We both know that we’re not allowed to attempt to celebrate a wedding ceremony that we know to be invalid. We know that there are distinct ecclesiastical penalties for attempting to do so.
And, you know that I’m getting ready to celebrate a wedding liturgy which – unbeknownst to me – is objectively invalid.
Are you seriously saying that you would assist the couple in going through with the invalid liturgy? AND, you would also “secretly” work toward a subsequent celebration? (And, moreover, you wouldn’t think yourself complicit in the invalid celebration, with all that this implies?)
Hmm…
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