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CathyC
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What is the church’s policy on performing nonsacrament marriages outside the church? I know a couple where one was raised Catholic and would like their marriage to be blessed. Is this hard to do? 
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Br.Rich_SFO
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I don’t understand your question?What is the church’s policy on performing nonsacrament marriages outside the church? I know a couple where one was raised Catholic and would like their marriage to be blessed. Is this hard to do?
Non-Sacramental Marriages would be Marriages between two non-Baptized or one Baptized and one non-Baptized person.
An invalid Marriage is where at least one person is Catholic and has not Married according to Church Law.
You will have to clarify your question.
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CathyC
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Only one of the two was raised Catholic. She is no longer practicing and has moved out of state, but will be returning home for the wedding, Her cousin is being married in a church, but he must begin to attend a local church and claim he is practicing (a stretch). She won’t and can’t play that game. Will she return to Catholicism? There is a strong probability…unless this is one more roadblock. Her fiance is a faithful person, but no family history of formal religion. He as briefly in a pentacostal chrch. They ant their mrriage to be blessed and she till holds catholicism as her basic belief…so where does the church stand??? The mom.
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CathyC
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Br. Rich SFO:
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CathyC
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Grandma and Grandpa were married under the sacrament in a catholic church. After 3 years they separated. The grandma looked into an annulment and did not follow through for the sake of her 2 children. The grandfaher got the marriage annuled, divorced, and remarried in the church without letting the grandma know. Claimed she abandoned him and he had no contact info. Of course that was a lie as they communicated once a year at Christmas.
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Br.Rich_SFO
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Ok
She was raised Catholic and has not renounced her Catholic Faith even though she is not practicing (not attending Mass). She is still by this fact bound to the Marriage laws of the Caholic Church.
It sounds like she is heading for a wedding that is null and void in the eyes of the Church. This marriage would probably not be recognized and the arrangment simply an arrangement of fornication which externally looks like a Marriage.
As for her cousin. Does he really think that he can pull the wool over God’s eyes and pretend to be practicing his Catholic faith? this would be a grave offense against the SACRAMENT of Marriage. Attempting to receive an Sacrament under false pretences is going to be difficult to answer for.
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Br.Rich_SFO
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There is no reason why she after the divorce should not have had the Church look at the validity of the Marriage “for the sake of her 2 children”. An annulment has no canonical effect on the children. The Marriage was found to be invalid by the tribunal. If he lied to obtain the annulment he will answer for it later. A Marriage is either valid or invalid.
Most often we forget that the things we do here while on earth do not only effect us while we are here on earth. But have implications on where we will spend eternity! For someone to think that they can fool God, they are only fooling themselves.
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CathyC
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Br. Rich SFO:
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CathyC
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Does the organizaton of the Catholic Church actually claim that marriages outside the church are not loving and binding unions between people? Perhaps the bride should denounce her faith so that the marriage would be more blessed (and the couple not living in fornication??) in the eyes of a God that recognizes persons from other faiths as holy and faithful persons.
I am bot amazed and saddened by your response.
I am bot amazed and saddened by your response.
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Br.Rich_SFO
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Marriage was raised by Christ to the level of a Sacrament. This Sacrament was entrusted to the Catholic Church to administer. I’m not sure committing Apostasy by renouncing her Catholic Faith is any better. Most “other” Christians who remain outside of the Catholic Church do so because they do not know any better. You as her parent(s) have the responsibility as with all the other Sacraments to prepare her for the Sacrament of Marriage, just as you did for Confirmation and First Holy Communion. Instead of seeking ways around the laws of the Church. You should be explaining to her the laws of the Church and their reasons and how those laws reflect the Divine Law of God.
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CathyC
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When you say other Christians “don’t know any better” you are making the assumption that the Catholic Church is better. Given the C. Church’s stand on gender…women can not fully participate not based on merit but solely on gender…this and other policies make me question whether the Catholic Church is better. I have no problem with the religious foundations of the Church, I do question the laws made and perpetuated by men.
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whatevergirl
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If you’re married outside the Catholic Church, then make sure you get it blessed asap. My husband and I were married by JOP, and when we joined a new church a few years ago, I had to naturally fill out membership papers. I listed that we were not married in a Catholic Church, so the priest sent me a letter, asking us to not receive the Eucharist until we had our union blessed by him. That was horrible, but… we called him, set the date, and for two years now, I can proclaim that I was married in a Catholic Church! His letter sounded harsh at first, but the priests are trying to follow through with what Jesus would have wanted for us all to live and love in healthy ways. It’s verrrrrrrry easy to do, to answer your question. :angel1:
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CathyC
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Thanks whatevergirl. This sounds very welcoming. :tiphat:
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Br.Rich_SFO
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Well there is ONLY one Church founded by Christ upon Peter. Each individual must search for themselves to find that Church. The Scriptures tell us that it exists in the world today and can be recognized by the four Marks. One in Faith, Holy because it is the Mystical Body of Christ guided by the Holy Spirit, Catholic because it is universal throughout all the world, Apostolic because it is rooted in the oral teaching of the Apostles and later through whom the New Testament was eventually written. It is not held against non-Catholic Christians or even non-Christians, who were born into and raised outside of the Catholic Faith. They however they are still called to seek union with the true Church of Christ.
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asquared
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the Catholic Church recognizes all marriages as valid until proven otherwise. If a person has been married before in a valid marriage, that person is not free to marry anyone, divorce has nothing to do with it. Only Catholics are bound further by Church laws on marriage: having the marriage witnessed by a priest etc., and ordinarily a Catholic may not marry a non-Catholic for instance. Many of those disciplines may be lifted through the proper dispensation. If the Catholic party rejects Catholic laws on marriage, and fails to comply with those procedures, this person has placed their personal situation above the Church established by Jesus Christ.
It is possible for a Catholic to enter a valid natural marriage, which is not sacramental, say in marrying a non-Christian, but that also requires a dispensation. It is time for the Catholic party to decide whether or not he or she believes and holds all that the Catholic Church teaches, or whether she has decided to reject the Church.
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