Marriage between a catholic and a non catholic

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Nikhil1

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I have a question for those who can clarify.
I am born into a Hindu Brahmin family. I intend to marry a Roman catholic Christian girl from Kerala. Is it possible for a non catholic to marry a catholic in church? If so, what are the procedures? I am not willing to convert to Christianity. Not because I’m a devout Hindu, but because I’m not a believer in religions. I am not an orthodox individual. Please do respond. Moreover, I’m willing to baptize my kids into roman Catholicism. I am even willing to attend church for masses etc. Can those who know, please do respond. It would be really helpful. 🙏
 
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Hello.

I think the Church allows this, provided that you agree to the children being baptized and raised in the Catholic faith. However, I’m not very sure and so shall wait until more knowledgable posters can pop in with an answer.
 
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Yes. I’m ready to raise my children as Roman catholic. Absolutely no objection. Neither from me not from my parents.
 
Yes, it’s very possible.

Talk with the fiance’s priest for help, they will need to obtain permission. You don’t need to make a promise to raise your kids Catholic, you will be made known of your fiance’s promise to “raise the children in the faith to the best of their ability”. However you will need to attend all of the pre-marital classes.

Also, I’m assuming you’re not baptized, so the marriage wouldn’t be a sacrament but a natural marriage. I also do not believe your wedding can be within a Mass but outside of it (mine was too, still just as valid).
 
Did you marry in India? No I’m not baptized. I would certainly attend pre marital classes.
 
Nikhil1 said:
Is it possible for a non catholic to marry a catholic in church? If so, what are the procedures?
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Yes it is possible. However she must receive a dispensation from her bishop to marry a non-baptized person. The first step is for the two of you to meet with her priest, to do premarital preparation.

To be granted permission, the Catholic party needs to assure the bishop that they will not affect from the faith, and they also are promising to raise their children in the Catholic faith. The non-Catholic does not make any such promises, but is to be made aware of the promises and indicate that they understand the serious nature of the promise that the Catholic is making.
Nikhil1 said:
but because I’m not a believer in religions.
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Well it seems like a mismatch to marry a practicing Catholic, if you do not believe in any religion. The Catholic is going to practice their faith, and teach it to children. You need to understand that, and be OK with it. More than just OK, you need to be supportive of it.
 
Yes. I don’t believe in religions does not restrain me from valuing her beliefs of course. I wouldn’t at any point restrict her from following her beliefs. Thank you for the suggestions. 🙏
 
The Catholic lady you want to marry has an impediment if she wants to marry you. basically an impediment is a Church rule that says you cannot marry in these circumstances. The impediment in question is called Disparity of Cult. It arises when a Catholic wants to marry someone who is not a baptised Christian.

Because the impediment was created by the Church and has not come directly from God the Church can dispense it. Therefore, the lady you want to marry will have to apply for dispensation from her bishop. The priest who is preparing you for marriage will usually fill in the necessary paperwork and send it off. If there is no dispensation because either it did not get applied for or it was denied the lady cannot marry you. If she did go ahead and marry you the Catholic Church will consider the marriage to be invalid, i.e. to have not happened.

Prior to the marriage the lady will be asked to promise that she will do all she can to maintain her Catholic faith and that any children with which the marriage is blessed will be baptised as Catholics and receive a Catholic education. I am very happy to see that you do not object to this. You will not be asked to make any such promises but you will be made aware the lady is making them.

Because you are not baptised and are not a Christian of any kind the marriage will have to take the form of the Rite of Marriage. This means it will not be celebrated during a Mass.
 
Nikhil1 said:
I have a question for those who can clarify.
I am born into a Hindu Brahmin family. I intend to marry a Roman catholic Christian girl from Kerala. Is it possible for a non catholic to marry a catholic in church? If so, what are the procedures? I am not willing to convert to Christianity. Not because I’m a devout Hindu, but because I’m not a believer in religions. I am not an orthodox individual. Please do respond. Moreover, I’m willing to baptize my kids into roman Catholicism. I am even willing to attend church for masses etc. Can those who know, please do respond. It would be really helpful. 🙏
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In order for a Catholic to marry someone that is not Christian requires a dispensation – which is not guaranteed – it can be granted for grave reasons. The marriage will not be sacramental but natural, and it cannot be celebrated with a Eucharistic Mass.

The Catechism of the Catholic Churches has this:
1633 In many countries the situation of a mixed marriage (marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) often arises. It requires particular attention on the part of couples and their pastors. A case of marriage with disparity of cult (between a Catholic and a nonbaptized person) requires even greater circumspection.

1634 Difference of confession between the spouses does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle for marriage, when they succeed in placing in common what they have received from their respective communities, and learn from each other the way in which each lives in fidelity to Christ. But the difficulties of mixed marriages must not be underestimated. They arise from the fact that the separation of Christians has not yet been overcome. The spouses risk experiencing the tragedy of Christian disunity even in the heart of their own home. Disparity of cult can further aggravate these difficulties. Differences about faith and the very notion of marriage, but also different religious mentalities, can become sources of tension in marriage, especially as regards the education of children. The temptation to religious indifference can then arise.
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TC3033 said:
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TomH1:
receive a Catholic education.
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I do not recall this at all.
Vico said:
which is not guaranteed – it can be granted for grave reasons.
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Agreed that it’s not guaranteed, but I also don’t think it’s as hard to obtain as it’s made to sound here. At least in the states.
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Latin Canon Law (CIC) – Assuming the Catholic is Latin Catholic not eastern Catholic.
Can. 1086 §1. A marriage between two persons, one of whom has been baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it and the other of whom is not baptized, is invalid.
§2. A person is not to be dispensed from this impediment unless the conditions mentioned in cann. 1125 and 1126 have been fulfilled.
§3. If at the time the marriage was contracted one party was commonly held to have been baptized or the baptism was doubtful, the validity of the marriage must be presumed according to the norm of can. 1060 until it is proven with certainty that one party was baptized but the other was not.

Can. 1125 The local ordinary can grant a permission of this kind if there is a just and reasonable cause. He is not to grant it unless the following conditions have been fulfilled:
1° the Catholic party is to declare that he or she is prepared to remove dangers of defecting from the faith and is to make a sincere promise to do all in his or her power so that all offspring are baptized and brought up in the Catholic Church;
2° the other party is to be informed at an appropriate time about the promises which the Catholic party is to make, in such a way that it is certain that he or she is truly aware of the promise and obligation of the Catholic party;
3° both parties are to be instructed about the purposes and essential properties of marriage which neither of the contracting parties is to exclude.

Can. 1126 It is for the conference of bishops to establish the method in which these declarations and promises, which are always required, must be made and to define the manner in which they are to be established in the external forum and the non-Catholic party informed about them.
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That kinda makes my point.

Nothing in there indicates “grave reasons”. It’s the process my wife and I went through, and as far as I know, was pretty painless.
 
TC3033 said:
That kinda makes my point.

Nothing in there indicates “grave reasons”. It’s the process my wife and I went through, and as far as I know, was pretty painless.
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Canons 1125 indicates the grave reasons with “just and reasonable cause”.

See Modern Catholic Dictionary
GRAVE INCONVENIENCE. In moral theology a sufficient reason to excuse a person from fulfilling certain positive precepts of the Church, not of themselves binding by the natural or revealed law. Also sufficient reason for delaying or even not performing certain actions, otherwise obligatory, provided there is a sincere desire to do so.
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As several people said, please talk to your fiancee’s priest about what will be required.
I think the priest is better equipped to handle this than well-meaning laypeople posting sections out of documents.
 
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TC3033 said:
Nothing in there indicates “grave reasons”. It’s the process my wife and I went through, and as far as I know, was pretty painless.
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There is a difference if the non Catholic party is validly baptized.
 
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