Marriage in Tahiti

[Noreen384]

Hi. My daughter (who still needs to be confirmed) is 26yrs old and wishes to be married in Moorea at a beautiful Catholic church there. The priest only speaks French and we do not. How do we go about arranging for a marriage in the Church in Tahiti?

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Hi. My daughter (who still needs to be confirmed) is 26yrs old and wishes to be married in Moorea at a beautiful Catholic church there. The priest only speaks French and we do not. How do we go about arranging for a marriage in the Church in Tahiti?

Contact the diocese there. If you do not speak/write French, find somebody through your own parish or diocese (perhaps your priest knows someone) who would be willing to translate for you.

A Catholic need not be confirmed to be married.

If neither your daughter nor your prospective son-in-law is a member of the parish in Tahiti, you might have some troubles. If it’s a beautiful church then it might be booked for weddings for 5 years ahead.

Maybe you might try to talk your daughter into getting married at her own local Catholic Church and having a honeymoon in Tahiti instead?

 

[Corki]

Hi. My daughter (who still needs to be confirmed) is 26yrs old and wishes to be married in Moorea at a beautiful Catholic church there. The priest only speaks French and we do not. How do we go about arranging for a marriage in the Church in Tahiti?

How to go about it?

First, your daughter needs the permission of her pastor to marry in another parish.

Second, the pastor in Moorea must agree to marry someone who is not in his parish. This is not at all guaranteed.

Then the two priests work out who is going to do the pre-cana counseling, the rest of the marriage prep and the paperwork.

Also, since your daughter doens’t speak French and that’s the only language the priest speaks, she will propbably need to arrange for a priest who speaks English or is bilingual to perform the actual marriage ceremony and permission from the pastor in Moorea for this other priest to witness the marriage.

Once all of that is done, the rest is pretty easy.

 

[1ke]

Your daughter must start with her own pastor. To be married outside your own parish (or that of the groom) requires permission from the pastor. This written permission must be sent to the parish in the destination. That priest must then agree to marry you (which he is under no obligation to do). Your daughter must complete all the premarital paperwork and classes with her own priest. He must send this paperwork to the priest who will marry them.

All in all, a difficult undertaking given the distance and language barrier. I suggest you hire an interpreter and translator if you are serious about this and be prepared for a LOT of work ot make it happen.

Better to suggest a wedding at home and a Tahitian honeymoon.

 

[mikelionheart]

It is true what the previous posters say about needing to go to your own priest first, needing permission from the priest in Tahiti, needing to arrange the pre-wedding counselling (marriage prep we call it here) and needing either a pries who speaks English or an interpreter.

I was planning on getting married in Italy this year but it was too much trouble.

Not because of all of the above but because so many towns and dioceses of Italy have blanket bans on foreigners having church weddings. There are similar bans in other Catholic Mediterranean countries.

So try and find out how easy it is in Tahiti.

I think it stinks that a Catholic can’t get married in any Catholic church anywhere on the planet.

My brother got married in Italy 3 years ago. Civil wedding, no problem.

As long as it’s allowed in Tahiti I don’t think it’ll be too laborious.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[90Domer]

It is true what the previous posters say about needing to go to your own priest first, needing permission from the priest in Tahiti, needing to arrange the pre-wedding counselling (marriage prep we call it here) and needing either a pries who speaks English or an interpreter.

I was planning on getting married in Italy this year but it was too much trouble.

Not because of all of the above but because so many towns and dioceses of Italy have blanket bans on foreigners having church weddings. There are similar bans in other Catholic Mediterranean countries.

So try and find out how easy it is in Tahiti.

I think it stinks that a Catholic can’t get married in any Catholic church anywhere on the planet.

My brother got married in Italy 3 years ago. Civil wedding, no problem.

As long as it’s allowed in Tahiti I don’t think it’ll be too laborious.

Good luck and God bless.

A Catholic wedding is a sacrament, not an entitlement, and should be treated as such.

 

[mikelionheart]

A Catholic wedding is a sacrament, not an entitlement, and should be treated as such.

Catholics are members of the universal church.

And should be treated as such.

A sacrament is a sacrament wherever it is validly celebrated.

 

[Corki]

Catholics are members of the universal church.

And should be treated as such.

A sacrament is a sacrament wherever it is validly celebrated.

The Sacrament of matrimony is unique since it the only Sacrament where the individuals, rather than the clergy, minister the Sacrament. At the same time, it is a Sacrament closely tied to the pastoral responsibilities of the priest. The pastor must ensure readiness as well as assure there are no impediments. It is much more difficult for a priest in a distant location to fulfill those duties than the bride’s (or groom’s) own pastor.

It is not that Catholics are not treated as members of a universal Church. Rather that the Sacraments of Service (Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders) have ties that bind them to a particular place and person - the pastor in the former, the Bishop in the latter. You wouldn’t expect that a young man could walk into the Chancery of any diocese and expect to be ordained, would you?

Of course, in the future, with digitized records and virtual pre-cana, we might be able to do what you envision.

 

[mikelionheart]

The Sacrament of matrimony is unique since it the only Sacrament where the individuals, rather than the clergy, minister the Sacrament. At the same time, it is a Sacrament closely tied to the pastoral responsibilities of the priest. The pastor must ensure readiness as well as assure there are no impediments. It is much more difficult for a priest in a distant location to fulfill those duties than the bride’s (or groom’s) own pastor.

That is why the marriage prep course is always done at the home parish.

To have a blanket ban on all foreign marraiges is, I believe wrong.

There is no such ban in my parish despite being an incredibly popular church for weddings and currently being nearly booked up for the next 3 years.

 

[Chatter163]

Hi. My daughter (who still needs to be confirmed) is 26yrs old and wishes to be married in Moorea at a beautiful Catholic church there. The priest only speaks French and we do not. How do we go about arranging for a marriage in the Church in Tahiti?

May I ask why she desires to marry in a church that, I assume, is in another country? You don’t mention where you live, but surely there must be more of a reason to go to a foreign land whose language is unfamiliar, to get married, simply because the church is beautiful? If that is the only reason, if I were her pastor, I would already be questioning the maturity of both parties.

 

[Corki]

That is why the marriage prep course is always done at the home parish.

To have a blanket ban on all foreign marraiges is, I believe wrong.

There is no such ban in my parish despite being an incredibly popular church for weddings and currently being nearly booked up for the next 3 years.

There is no “blanket ban” on foreign marriages. I know many people who have gone to Mexico, for example to get married with the full blessing and cooperation of both pastors.

 

[thistle]

Contact the diocese there. If you do not speak/write French, find somebody through your own parish or diocese (perhaps your priest knows someone) who would be willing to translate for you.

**A Catholic need not be confirmed to be married. **

If neither your daughter nor your prospective son-in-law is a member of the parish in Tahiti, you might have some troubles. If it’s a beautiful church then it might be booked for weddings for 5 years ahead.

Maybe you might try to talk your daughter into getting married at her own local Catholic Church and having a honeymoon in Tahiti instead?

That’s not quite correct.

Can. 1065 §1 Catholics who have not yet received the sacrament of confirmation are to receive it before being admitted to marriage, if this can be done without grave inconvenience.

I certainly do not view planning a marriage well ahead as fitting into “grave inconvenience”.

 

[1ke]

To have a blanket ban on all foreign marraiges is, I believe wrong.

The Church does not have a blanket ban on “foreign” marriages, and I don’t believe anyone on this thread has indicated otherwise.

 

[runningdude]

There is no “blanket ban” on foreign marriages. I know many people who have gone to Mexico, for example to get married with the full blessing and cooperation of both pastors.

He speaking of the “ban” that apparently exists in Italy.

 

[Corki]

He speaking of the “ban” that apparently exists in Italy.

Every pastor is free to decide if he wants to limit weddings to parishioners only. I wonder if the “ban” in Italy is more about discouraging destination weddings than banning foreigners. I wouldn’t be surprized if “foreigers” are allowed to marry in the parishes of towns where they have a familial connection but not just to marry in Italy because they like the Church or want to get a head start on the honeymoon.

 

[1ke]

He speaking of the “ban” that apparently exists in Italy.

There is no ban in Italy. Perhaps in individual parishes or historic churches there are restrictions regarding non-parishioners, but not in Italy as a whole. That is no different than here in the US. There are number of very beautiful or very historic churches that allow only parishioners. That is the individual parish’s call.

 

[mikelionheart]

There is no “blanket ban” on foreign marriages. I know many people who have gone to Mexico, for example to get married with the full blessing and cooperation of both pastors.

There is in certain Italian towns/parishes/dioceses.

As per my original post.

 

[mikelionheart]

Noreen

With reference to your OP;

The points I made in my first post remain.

It should not be difficult to arrange a foreign marriage.
In Tahiti there should not be a problem with language despite the official language being French. But you may still need to have an interpreter.
Your first action though should be, as I have said, to find out that foreign marriages are allwoed there.

Good luck and God bless.

Mike

 

[Phemie]

That is why the marriage prep course is always done at the home parish.

To have a blanket ban on all foreign marraiges is, I believe wrong.

There is no such ban in my parish despite being an incredibly popular church for weddings and currently being nearly booked up for the next 3 years.

Pastors may simply not want the headache that comes with long distance planning. I know from having dealt with these documents that things can go wrong and it’s much better to prevent problem than it is to fix them.

The couple needs permission from their Pastor to marry outside the parish because canon law gives the Pastor jurisdiction over marriages in his parish.

Then the bishop needs to give his permission for the marriage to occur outside of the diocese.

Then the priest who agrees to marry the foreign couple (or even a couple of citizens outside their own diocese) needs his bishop’s permission to celebrate that marriage.

Throw in a foreign language and foreign laws and you have a potential for a big mess.

It’s interesting to note that some couples who want to marry at the Vatican are advised to marry civilly at home and have their religious marriage in Rome. It avoids the potential pitfalls of foreign marriage laws.

 

[runningdude]

It’s interesting to note that some couples who want to marry at the Vatican are advised to marry civilly at home and have their religious marriage in Rome. It avoids the potential pitfalls of foreign marriage laws.

In Europe, many countries don’t recognize religious wedding ceremonies, and registering in town hall is necessary step before a Catholic ceremony. This was almost the case even in Italy, however the series of treaties creating Vatican City allows Catholic marriages to be recognized.

In the United States, its usually not an issue, as clergy are allowed to register to witness marriages and process the paperwork in most States (varies locally).