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chandler550369
Guest
Is the sacrament valid if the parties were not both baptized yet the marriage was by a priest in a Catholic church?
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SeekerJen
Guest
I didn’t think such a situation was even possible under Canon Law.Is the sacrament valid if the parties were not both baptized yet the marriage was by a priest in a Catholic church?
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Anne1964
Guest
The situation in which one party is Catholic and the other party is not baptized is called disparity of cult.
The couple must get a dispensation from the bishop in order for the marriage to be allowed.
While such a marriage is valid, it is not sacramental.
The couple must get a dispensation from the bishop in order for the marriage to be allowed.
While such a marriage is valid, it is not sacramental.
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1ke
Guest
The marriage is valid, but not a Sacrament. It is called a “good and natural marriage”.Is the sacrament valid if the parties were not both baptized yet the marriage was by a priest in a Catholic church?
For a marriage to be a Sacrament, both parties must be baptized.
Also, you indicate both parties were not baptized “yet”. If and when the unbaptized person does get baptized, the marriage automatically becomes a Sacrament.
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
The Sacrament of Marriage can only be received when BOTH persons are validly Baptized. If both persons are not Baptized a Natural Marriage takes place, it is usually not celebrated in a Catholic church.Is the sacrament valid if the parties were not both baptized yet the marriage was by a priest in a Catholic church?
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1ke
Guest
Canon Law does allow for a marriage between a baptized person and an unbaptized person if a dispensation is received from the Bishop. See canon law 1086, 1125, and 1126.
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1ke
Guest
I took the OP to mean one was a baptized Catholic and one was not baptized.
If the OP meant that neither were baptized, then that is entirely different.
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cameron_lansing
Guest
1ke would be correct.
The law contemplates that at least one party must be Catholic for a Catholic priest or deacon to exercise the faculty to witness the wedding. One must be a subject of the Church. That only happens by baptism or the admission of a baptized person into full communion. If neither is baptized, neither is a subject of the Catholic Church.
Many civil jurisdictions tie this rule of the Church to the civil authorization for a priest or deacon to solemnize matrimony given either by statute or by registration. They receive authorization within the limits of their denomination’s rules.
Because of that, the marriage of two unbaptized by a priest or deacont may not even be civilly valid. One would have to examine the laws of the jurisdiction and the concrete details of the case.
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SeekerJen
Guest
Whoops, I misread the original post and thought it meant that neither spouse was baptized. This is why I shouldn’t post to serious threads at the end of a long week.
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
That is why I said:
“If both persons are not Baptized a Natural Marriage takes place, it is usually **not **celebrated in a Catholic church.”
What I seem to see here today is as follows:
Catholic/Catholic - in the Church at the foot of the altar within a Mass.
Catholic/Baptized Non-Catholic Christian - in the Church at the foot of the altar but not within a Mass.
Catholic/ Non-Baptized - usually in the gathering space or other space that is not the main liturgical space.
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StephanieC
Guest
I’m not so sure about this part, but my only evidence is anectdotal from 1970 (my parents)…it took place in the actual church. Don’t know if things have changed since then? Or things weren’t done properly at that time?
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revejj2000
Guest
According to the Rite for Celebrating Marriage Between a Catholic and an Unbaptized Person, the following instruction says:
If marriage is celebrated between a Catholic and an unbaptized person (either a catechumen or a non-Christian), the rite may be performed in the church or some other suitable place and takes the following form.
The rubrics (red print) are from the Rite of Marriage, Catholic Book Publishing Co., New York, 1970, p 28.
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chandler550369
Guest
thanks for your replies; this is a very personal issue to me. My husband walked away from our marriage 16 months ago and after many months of prayer that he would return he filed for divorce. He was not a baptized person at the time of our marriage yet we were married in a Catholic church. I never thought much of it until a few years ago and I worried about it. I suggested we talk to a priest but my husband thought that was foolish so I dropped it. Now that I am going through this personal agony, for some reason it popped into my mind.
He was baptized three and a half years into our marriage. I was just wondering. I suppose we never had a sacramental marriage?
He was baptized three and a half years into our marriage. I was just wondering. I suppose we never had a sacramental marriage?
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Br.Rich_SFO
Guest
This does not speak to the validity of your specific Marriage. In general a Marriage properly celebrated between a Catholic and a non-Baptized person. Meaning that the Bishops dispensation was received for the Marriage to take place as required by Canon Law and everything else was in place and correct. A valid non-Sacramental Marriage would have become a Sacramental Marriage as soon as the non-Baptized party received Baptism.
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