marriage convalidation

[EvelynEVF]

If one spouse converts and the other doesn’t, is it required that the marriage be convalidated? Both were baptized protestants married in a church wedding. If the non-converting spouse refuses, can the convert still receive Communion, etc after confirmation?

Thanks.

 

[LilyM]

I’d seek your priest’s advice on this one. It is probably not necessary, my understanding is convalidation wouldn’t be required if both of you were to convert, for example.

Bear in mind that convalidation can be done very simply indeed - just a short ceremony in front of the priest or deacon with one or two other witnesses - and need not be at all elaborate. If that helps the reluctant spouse.

If one party outright refuses, you can still seek what is called a radical sanation, which will validate the marriage without the non-consenting party’s participation. Again, ask your priest about it if it is required.

Best of luck to you!

 

[jprioli]

If one spouse converts and the other doesn’t, is it required that the marriage be convalidated? Both were baptized protestants married in a church wedding. If the non-converting spouse refuses, can the convert still receive Communion, etc after confirmation?

Thanks.

Evelyn:

Let’s try it this way: Albert and Agnes are both born into non-Catholic Christian families. For the sake of discussion, let’s say that Albert’s family is Baptist and Agnes’s family is Presbyterian.

Agnes’s parents have her baptized as an infant in their Presbyterian Church, and she is raised in that Church to adulthood.

Albert’s parents wouldn’t dream of baptizing an infant. Albert chooses to be baptized when he is 15 years old.

Albert and Agnes meet at college and court for two years, and then are married by Agnes’s Presbyterian pastor. Neither had ever so much as been in a serious relationship with another, much less having been married.

Then Agnes begins to investigate the claims of the Catholic Church. Eventually she takes instruction and is received into full communion with the Catholic Church. She makes a general Sacramental Confession, is Confirmed, and receives her first Holy Communion.

=====> No convalidation needed. Their marriage is presumed to be valid and sacramental, as both were free to marry, free to marry each other, and were baptized at the time they exchanged consent.

On the other hand, suppose that one or both had been married in some way, shape, or form (church, justice of the peace, etc) to another person before they were married to each other.

In that case, BEFORE Agnes may be received into the Church, the annulment/dissolution case MUST be resolved on the first marriage. Otherwise, she and Albert would have to live apart, or live as brother and sister.

Regards,
Joe

 

[EvelynEVF]

Thank you. I am greatly relieved. I have run into folks whose pastor required convalidation prior to confirmation, apparently because only one convertetd. Mine did not, for specific pastoral reasons, but I didn’t really know which was correct.

 

[puzzleannie]

no way to give an individual answer that will fit everyone, the party converting needs to discuss this with the priest who is receiving him into the Church for pastoral care–not the DRE or lay catechist, although the RCIA director may do an initial interview. The pastoral advice has to come from the priest. Two non-Catholics who are otherwise free to marry are considered validly married, no matter who witnessed the ceremony or where. The discussion with the priest is to help establish if they were free to marry (no previous marriages or impediments).

The issue of convalidation comes up when either party was baptized Catholic and married outside the Church, because only Catholics are bound by Church law as to who may witness the marriage and where it takes place.

Please talk to the pastor about your own situation, and do not judge based on experience of other people you know, since there is no way you can know all aspects of their circumstances.