Marriage and Sacrament

[PetraG]

The code of canon law also requires the officiant/parish of a marriage to notify the baptismal parishes of Catholic parties being married. If you know where your mom was baptized, her baptismal record ideally ought to have a notation (if she knew when she got married the name of the church where she was baptized–absence of a notation isn’t proof she didn’t marry, since clerical errors happen).

It makes sense that the baptismal parish is notified when someone recieves other sacraments for the first time. For instance, when you present your baptismal certificate when you get married the priest marrying you can contact your baptismal parish to verify that you are fully initiated (recieved First Holy Communion and Confirmation) and that you are not already married in the Church.

 

[dochawk]

You say it was “noted for the record by a Catholic priest”? What do you mean by that?

Having read the rest, it doesn’t sound like it is the case here, but in the Southwest, for quite some time there weren’t enough priests to be everywhere.

A marriage would be held, and the next time a priest visited the town, he would sign their Bible and attest to the marriage.

By 1934 in California, that should not have been the case . . .

hawk

 

[Dovekin]

we obtained the Marriage certificate of our parents dated 1943 that was a civil ceremony having it “witnessed” and noted for the record by a Catholic Priest. No name or signature of said Priest

The name and signature of the priest is on the certificate, Francis Widlek, who “solemnized” the marriage.

The ministers of a marriage are the couple, not the priest. Your question is mostly about whether Church paperwork is in order, not whether your parents were committed to one another.

 

[Joe_5859]

That certificate doesn’t suggest to me that the marriage is only civil. But in the U.S., all Catholic marriages in a Church are also civil. There are certificates from the County Clerk’s office that are civil documents, even when the marriage is celebrated in a Church.