Invalid Anglican Baptism? = Denial od Sacrement of Marriage?

[deekod1967]

Hello,

I know a couple who are being denied the sacrament of marriage because of the groom-to-be’s Anglican background. He was baptised as Anglican and has been married and divorced outside of any Faith (i.e. civil marriage only). My understanding is that everything was looking fine until he mentioned to the parish priest who was going to marry them that he was baptised an Anglican, the priest told them that that is a problem and he has had to fill in a long set of forms detailing everything about his life which took three hours to complete. The couple are now still awaiting word, and in the meantime are considering marrying in a protestant Church unless things change for the better. The bride-to-be is catholic and will bring the kids up to be catholic no matter what happens. My question is this - has any canon lawyers reading this ever heard of an invalid Anglican baptism before? - and if so please could someone tell me why this couple are being denied the sacraments for something not of their own doing? I find this especially frustrating in light of recent married Anglican priests being accepted into the catholic church in my country.

D

 

[Edward_Pothier]

deekod1967:

Hello,

I know a couple who are being denied the sacrament of marriage because of the groom-to-be’s Anglican background. He was baptised as Anglican and has been married and divorced outside of any Faith (i.e. civil marriage only). My understanding is that everything was looking fine until he mentioned to the parish priest who was going to marry them that he was baptised an Anglican, the priest told them that that is a problem and he has had to fill in a long set of forms detailing everything about his life which took three hours to complete. The couple are now still awaiting word, and in the meantime are considering marrying in a protestant Church unless things change for the better. The bride-to-be is catholic and will bring the kids up to be catholic no matter what happens. My question is this - has any canon lawyers reading this ever heard of an invalid Anglican baptism before? - and if so please could someone tell me why this couple are being denied the sacraments for something not of their own doing? I find this especially frustrating in light of recent married Anglican priests being accepted into the catholic church in my country.

D

Is the “problem” because of a supposedly invalid Anglican baptism or is it because of his previous civil marriage?

A baptized non-Catholic can marry another baptized non-Catholic in a civil ceremony (or in a Protestant ceremony) and the marriage will be considered valid and binding by the Catholic Church (assuming all other usual qualifications). Unlike a marriage involving at least one Catholic, there is no requirement of “canonical form”, i.e. the usual marriage before a priest or deacon and in a Catholic Church. The problem of the potential marriage of the Catholic woman and this married-and-divorced Anglican could be the need to have the previous marriage investigated and ruled upon by a marriage tribunal.

Edward Pothier

 

[Catholic2003]

Civil marriages of Catholics are invalid. Civil marriages of Anglicans are valid.

It could be that the priest assumed that the groom was Catholic, making the prior civil marriage invalid, and therefore not an impediment to the upcoming marriage. Upon finding out that the groom was really Anglican, the priest realized that an annulment would be necessary, and gave the groom the annulment paperwork to fill out.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

deekod1967:

Hello,

I know a couple who are being denied the sacrament of marriage because of the groom-to-be’s Anglican background. He was baptised as Anglican and has been married and divorced outside of any Faith (i.e. civil marriage only). My understanding is that everything was looking fine until he mentioned to the parish priest who was going to marry them that he was baptised an Anglican, the priest told them that that is a problem and he has had to fill in a long set of forms detailing everything about his life which took three hours to complete. The couple are now still awaiting word, and in the meantime are considering marrying in a protestant Church unless things change for the better. The bride-to-be is catholic and will bring the kids up to be catholic no matter what happens. My question is this - has any canon lawyers reading this ever heard of an invalid Anglican baptism before? - and if so please could someone tell me why this couple are being denied the sacraments for something not of their own doing? I find this especially frustrating in light of recent married Anglican priests being accepted into the catholic church in my country.

D

My opinion is that it has nothing to do with the Anglican Baptism. The pastor has just realized that there is a prior Marriage specially a Christian marriage, that must be look into and a decision on it’s validity made. Entering into an invalid Marriage in a civil union is just plain dumb. What happens after a year of living in a sinful adulterous relationship, the tribunal rules that the prior Marriage was in fact valid?

 

[FrRobSST]

I shouldn’t think it has anything to do with the Baptism. Anglican baptisms are conducted in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and are valid.

Of course, I suppose the lad could have been baptized by a kookbrained modernist with “Creator, Redeemer, Sprit” or “Mother, Brother, Friend” or some other such nonsense, but I seriously doubt it, especially if the guy is over 20 or 25 years old.

I dunno…

I would think it has to do with the marriage.

Rob+