Latin Woman Marries Eastern Man

[smad0142]

Must she become a member of the Eastern Church to which the man belongs or may she opt to retain her membership in the Roman Church? Please provide the canons from the CCEO if possible. Thanks!!

 

[malphono]

I’ll probably regret posting this (I often do these days), but in any case there is no such requirement (and never has been). From the CCEO (emphasis added):

Canon 33 - A wife is at liberty to transfer to the Church of the husband at the celebration of or during the marriage; when the marriage has ended, she can freely return to the original Church sui iuris.

 

[rciadan]

Must she become a member of the Eastern Church to which the man belongs or may she opt to retain her membership in the Roman Church? Please provide the canons from the CCEO if possible. Thanks!!

I have no citations, but, my understanding is that the woman typically accepts the Rite of the Husband because Christianity teaches that he is the spiritual head of the family.

 

[smad0142]

And must they be married in the husband’s rite? Or can they be married in the woman’s rite? Once again any relevant canons would be very helpful.

 

[lssanjose]

And must they be married in the husband’s rite? Or can they be married in the woman’s rite? Once again any relevant canons would be very helpful.

I don’t know if it was here, or in byzcath.org forums, but it was mentioned about typically the woman’s rite will be the rite of celebration. I could be wrong, however. I suppose the issue will be kids, but from what I’ve read so far, they’ll be under the father’s rite.

 

[The_Idiot]

They can be married in either Eastern or Western i.e. Latin catholic ] Churches but they must be married by a priest .

In the East it is the priest who marries them - the sacrament is given by him - in the West the couple give each other the Sacrament . For the marriage to be valid it MUST by celebrated by a priest

 

[RyanBlack]

The wife may switch to the particular church or her husband at the time of marriage, but is not required to do so. Furthermore, it is the tradition of the Eastern churches for the crowning to take place in the parish of the groom. To do otherwise requires permission from the bishop (at least in the Byzantine Catholic Metropolia of Pittsburgh). Finally, as has been stated, a priest must be present and perform the wedding-even when the Eastern bishop grants permission for the wedding to take place in a Roman Catholic parish.

 

[Diak]

Canons 829 and 830 allow the priest to perform the marriage of a Catholic outside of his particular ritual Church as long as one of them is a member of that particular Church:

Canon 829: 1. From the day of taking canonical possession of office and as long as they legitimately hold office, everywhere within the boundaries of their territory, local hierarchs and pastors validly bless the marriage of parties whether they are subjects or non-subjects, provided that at least one of the parties is enrolled in his Church sui iuris. 2. The hierarch and the personal pastor, by virtue of their office, only validly bless marriages within the boundaries of their jurisdiction when at least one of the parties is a subject. 3. By the law itself, the patriarch is endowed with the faculty to personally bless marriages anywhere in the world, as long as at least one of the parties is enrolled in the Church over which he presides, observing the other requirements of law.

Canon 830: 1. As long as they legitimately hold office, the local hierarch and the pastor can give the faculty to bless a determined marriage within their own territorial boundaries to priests of any Church sui iuris, even the Latin Church. 2. However, only the local hierarch can give a general faculty for blessing marriages with due regard for can. 302, 2. 3. In order that the conferral of the faculty for blessing a marriage be valid, it must be expressly given to specified priests; further, if the faculty is general, it must be given in writing.

Canon 831 states that the church of the groom is preferred: "2. The marriage is to be celebrated before the pastor of the groom, unless either particular law determines otherwise or a just cause excuses.

 

[Diak]

Must she become a member of the Eastern Church to which the man belongs or may she opt to retain her membership in the Roman Church? Please provide the canons from the CCEO if possible. Thanks!!

No, she does not have to change. As far as the priest being able to bless a marriage between Catholics of different particular Churches, Canons 829 and 830 allow him to do so as long as one of the spouses is enrolled in his particular Church. She may certainly change after the marriage or before as she wishes.

The particular law of the UGCC in the US regarding this is as follows:
Art. 377 - The pastor of a Ukrainian Church can validly and lawfully bless a marriage within his territory:

1. of two Ukrainian Catholics;
2. of a Ukrainian Catholic man and Catholic woman of any other Catholic Church sui iuris;
3. of a Ukrainian Catholic woman and of a man of another Particular Catholic Church sui iuris if there is sufficient reason for blessing the marriage in her Church;
4. of a Ukrainian Catholic man or woman and a non- Catholic, baptized or not. This being a diriment impediment of either mixed religion or disparity of cult, ad cautelam, it requires a dispensation from the local Eparch, unless delegation has been granted to pastors.

Art. 378 - After the blessing of a marriage between a Ukrainian Catholic man and a woman of another Particular Catholic Church sui iuris, she may at once make a declaration before the pastor and two witnesses to join her husband in the membership of the Ukrainian Church. However, a Ukrainian Catholic man, or a man of another Catholic Eastern Church, cannot validly join the Catholic Church of his wife without an indult of transfer to be obtained from both concerned Catholic Bishops. The parents, members of different Catholic Churches, alone may decide whether the children will belong to the Church of the father or of the mother.