Is my marriage a sacrament?

[Being_Brave]

I was married by a Lutheran pastor in a religious ceremony. If God leads me to choose Catholicism will the Church accept my marriage? I have done research and found conflicting information. Some say that you must be married in a Catholic church, others that the Church acknowledges Christian matrimony of any denomination. I know in my heart that we were married in the eyes of God so it would be difficult for me to accept that my church didn’t acknowledge it.

Is there a difference between the Church ‘acknowledging’ a marriage and considering it a sacrament?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

Yes, your marriage is a sacrament if you and your husband were baptized Christians when you were married and neither of you had been previously married and divorced. The Catholic Church recognizes the marriages of non-Catholics as valid. If they have been baptized, then the marriage is a sacrament besides being valid.

Catholics however, are held to a different standard. Catholics who attempt to get married outside of the Catholic Church without their Church’s permission cannot enter into a valid marriage according to Catholic teaching.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.