Is this a Valid Orthodox wedding?

[mrose1]

Hi everyone, I apologize if I’ve missed the answer to this on another thread.

From the perspective of a Catholic, is an Orthodox wedding between a never-married woman and a divorced man valid? Some details: the man’s divorce was ‘Church-approved,’ i.e. by his Bishop following the Orthodox practice allowing this. For what it is worth, the marriage and civil divorce happened prior to the man’s baptism.

I am not trying to wade into a debate about the merits of the Orthodox practice on this topic, I simply want to confirm whether or not, from the standpoint of the Catholic Church, this is a valid marriage or not.

Thank you!

 

[CB_Catholic]

Hi everyone, I apologize if I’ve missed the answer to this on another thread.

From the perspective of a Catholic, is an Orthodox wedding between a never-married woman and a divorced man valid? Some details: the man’s divorce was ‘Church-approved,’ i.e. by his Bishop following the Orthodox practice allowing this. For what it is worth, the marriage and civil divorce happened prior to the man’s baptism.

I am not trying to wade into a debate about the merits of the Orthodox practice on this topic, I simply want to confirm whether or not, from the standpoint of the Catholic Church, this is a valid marriage or not.

Thank you!

The Orthodox are not Catholics, so I don’t think the Catholic Church would opine on this unless somebody in the marriage wanted to become Catholic. Non-Catholics are not bound by our marriage laws, and the Orthodox are bound by their laws, not ours. I believe the Church assumes all marriages are valid until proven otherwise, and there would be no reason to question the validity of the marriage unless they wanted to become Catholic. At which point the tribunal would investigate and make the decision on that.

 

[mrose1]

Thank you for your response; however, I am afraid this does not address the core of the question. A couple of issues:

This question is not in the realm of ecclessiastical law, but Divine Law. The Church cannot decide whether marriage is indissoluble or not; She merely obeys Our Lord. To say “non-Catholics are not bound by our marriage laws” is true; but all are bound by Divine Law, Christian, Catholic, or otherwise. That’s why there is no such thing as divorce, whether you are Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pagan, or Secularist.

As for the Church assuming all marriages valid until proven otherwise, that is precisely my concern. Does not, then, the Church presume the man’s original marriage valid?

Can anyone help me out?

 

[josephdaniel29]

Thank you for your response; however, I am afraid this does not address the core of the question. A couple of issues:

This question is not in the realm of ecclessiastical law, but Divine Law. The Church cannot decide whether marriage is indissoluble or not; She merely obeys Our Lord. To say “non-Catholics are not bound by our marriage laws” is true; but all are bound by Divine Law, Christian, Catholic, or otherwise. That’s why there is no such thing as divorce, whether you are Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pagan, or Secularist.

As for the Church assuming all marriages valid until proven otherwise, that is precisely my concern. Does not, then, the Church presume the man’s original marriage valid?

Can anyone help me out?

Yes the Roman Catholic Church does presume the first marriage was “valid.”

 

[stormy99]

Thank you for your response; however, I am afraid this does not address the core of the question. A couple of issues:

This question is not in the realm of ecclessiastical law, but Divine Law. The Church cannot decide whether marriage is indissoluble or not; She merely obeys Our Lord. To say “non-Catholics are not bound by our marriage laws” is true; but all are bound by Divine Law, Christian, Catholic, or otherwise. That’s why there is no such thing as divorce, whether you are Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, Pagan, or Secularist.

As for the Church assuming all marriages valid until proven otherwise, that is precisely my concern. Does not, then, the Church presume the man’s original marriage valid?

Can anyone help me out?

**Yes they do.

stormy**