In RCIA worried that current marriage is not valid due to unbaptized spouse & avoiding having children

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rubinga

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Here is my situation. I am currently in RCIA and very much want to become a Catholic. I’ve had some very wonderful revelations about the faith and feel like I am coming home! I was baptized non-denominational Christian as a child and fell away from the faith for many years. I have been married (civil Union) for 20 years. I did previously have a very short term marriage that was annulled through the courts. My husband is not baptized and has no interest in joining the church. Although he is supportive of me doing so. I understand that my previous marriage will have to be found null within the church. But I am also worried that even if that first marriage is found null that my current marriage will not be considered valid. I read somewhere that if the couple deliberately did not have children, that the marriage could be declared invalid. We never tried to have kids or really thought we wanted any and made permanent arrangements to that end. And then also is the fact that my husband is not baptized. Would our marriage even be considered valid? And if it is invalid would I just be asked to leave RCIA with no recourse?
 
The best thing you could do to get a correct answer is to make an appointment and talk to your priest.
 
Because your situation is complicated it is best that you speak to a priest. He can help you work things out. Peace.
 
No, sterilization does not mean you cannot be validly married in the Church (once you are both determined to be free to marry - does he have a prior marriage?)

Do talk to your priest, but, understand that Baptized + Unbaptized enter valid natural marriages every day.
 
The previous answer should conclude that you are still welcome in the church. Pope Francis wants YOU!! (Uncle Sam joke)
 
This isn’t church teaching. There is no such thing as a spiritual bond with a sexual partner. You go to confession to confess sins and gain strength not to repeat them.

From what the OP has said there is not enough information to say definitively whether the current marriage is valid or not and she needs to talk to a priest who can ask all the necessary questions. I am not sure how you concluded they weren’t married?
 
The modern Catholic Church has given numerous examples of sexual encounters being also spiritual. Do you think these are not considered sins and what way is there to have them forgiven?
 
Thank you! I was so confused by all the different information. He does not have any prior marriages. So that is one hurdle we won’t have to cross.
 
Sex outside of a valid marriage is a sin, if the person has full knowledge and free will, just like other sins. We go to confession to have that sin forgiven.

There is no spiritual bond formed with a sexual partner that needs to be broken in confession. I’ve never seen any catholic literature that mentions this.
 
CatholicSpirit said:
sacrament of reconciliation (Confession) because it is the only way to break a spiritual bond you make with a sexual partner. Sad to say, until you do this you carry a “yoke” (like two oxen wear) spiritually with your ex. (And any partners)
Click to expand...
Would you point this out for me in the Catechism or in another doctrinal document? I am not aware that this is the teaching of the Church.

Thank you.
 
As I read the OP your real concern relates to openness to children. Sterilisation by itself doesn’t invalidate a marriage and indeed all marriages are presumed valid unless and until proven otherwise,. So the short answer is that the Church would regard your (current) marriage as valid. Openness to children is a prerequisite for marriage however what actually matters is your (and your husband’s) intention at the time you entered into marriage. Again though, all marriages are presumed to be valid and unless you wanted to test that presumption by seeking an annulment that’s going to remain the case for your marriage.
 
CatholicSpirit said:
[Reconciliation] is the only way to break a spiritual bond you make with a sexual partner. Sad to say, until you do this you carry a “yoke” (like two oxen wear) spiritually with your ex. (And any partners)
Click to expand...
🤦‍♂️

Sounds like you’ve been getting your theology from Evangelical Christianity, and not from the Catholic Church!

You’re talking about “soul ties”. And no… the Catholic Church does not teach the notion of soul ties. There is no spiritual bond created by sex that needs to be removed – by a sacrament or by spiritual warfare or by anything. The Church teaches that there is sin – and the guilt for that sin is washed away by baptism or reconciliation (in the case of mortal sin).

No ‘soul ties’, though.
 
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