Is my marriage valid?

[ppcpilot]

My wife and I are both Catholic, but were away from the Church. We got married outside of the church. We had our marriage convalidated when we returned, but did not confess before then, nor did we live as brother/sister. We have since received reconcilliation. Are we married in the eyes of the Church?

 

[Jim_Blackburn]

Welcome back to the Church! Since you, as Catholics, married outside the Church you failed to observe the required form of the celebration of marriage - so your marriage was null (invalid) from the beginning. Convalidation attempts to make an invalid marriage valid. In cases such as yours this would require that your marriage be “contracted anew in canonical form” (Code of Canon Law, 1162). Provided this was done, your marriage should be valid.

The fact that you did not go to confession or live as brother and sister prior to the convalidation does not invalidate the convalidation.