Marriage & RCIA

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Rachel_Kelsen

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Hello all! So I did it, I asked to join this falls RCIA program. I am just waiting to hear back from the parish. Actually I have a couple question now that I think about it lol.
  1. My husband is not Catholic and probably never will be. That’s fine, his choice, I won’t push the issue, but…will I have to have our marriage convalidated? I seriously don’t think he’d agree to that…he’s pretty anti-religion. This could really put a damper on the whole plan here.
  2. I contacted a parish a ways from my home, still in the same city. But not the closest one to my home. I like this particular parish and just judging by their website, they have a good and robust RCIA program. Does that matter?
I’m sure I’ll have more questions as time goes on.

Thanks everyone!
 
Congrats on making the decision to join RCIA! If this is a first marriage for both of you and neither party was Catholic when you got married, you should not have any issue requiring a covalidation. Regarding your second question, it is really up to the pastor of your parish. However, in the United States, very few priests make a big deal about receiving the sacraments at your territorially assigned parish. I went through RCIA at a parish that was close to my school rather than the one near my house.

JMR
 
Congrats

Having been on the RCIA team for our Parish, what I will tell you is that your Priest will have to be involved. There are several issues that must be addressed and your Priest will be in a position to answer your question(s) and to contact the Chancery office to get any other issues cleared up.
 
As JMR said, your marriage is likely fine if neither of you were baptized Catholic and it’s the first marriage for each of you.

As far as where to join in RCIA, there are questions that will have to be answered by the pastor of the parish you want to attend. Some bishops enforce the idea of a territorial parish while (I think) most don’t.

The other thing to consider is which parish you want to be a part of in the longer term. Being in RCIA you will get to know the parish and the people well. So it’s best if that’s the place you want to be part of in the future.
 
jmr_1985 said:
you should not have any issue requiring a covalidation. Regarding your second question, it is really up to the pastor of your parish.

JMR
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z_0101 said:
Congrats

Having been on the RCIA team for our Parish, what I will tell you is that your Priest will have to be involved. There are several issues that must be addressed and your Priest will be in a position to answer your question(s) and to contact the Chancery office to get any other issues cleared up.
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I would not recommend “waiting for the parish” to get back in touch with you. Call and make an appointment to discuss this with the priest, do not discuss with church staff. Also, if you have a spouse that is not Catholic and has no plans to be Catholic you should get a Radical Sanitation not a Convalidation. Ask your priest.

I wish you well on your rcia journey.
 
Casilda said:
Also, if you have a spouse that is not Catholic and has no plans to be Catholic you should get a Radical Sanitation not a Convalidation.
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At this point we have no reason to assume the OP’s marriage is invalid so she has no need of either a radical sanation or convalidation. If there is a problem with validity, she’ll need to work with her pastor and the Tribunal to deal with it, and they’ll advise her on the next steps. I’d be inclined to rely on someone familiar with canon law to make this kind of recommendation.
 
Casilda said:
I would not recommend “waiting for the parish” to get back in touch with you. Call and make an appointment to discuss this with the priest, do not discuss with church staff. Also, if you have a spouse that is not Catholic and has no plans to be Catholic you should get a Radical Sanitation not a Convalidation. Ask your priest.

I wish you well on your rcia journey.
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Depends on the Parish I would suppose whereas we have a very pro-active program and a dedicated staff and volunteers that make sure things are taken care of in a very timely fashion other Parishes may not have such a blessing; however, one should allow the people responsible for such matters the time to their job - but it’s not unreasonable to ask for updates and to inquire how one may help with the process.
SuscipeMeDomine said:
At this point we have no reason to assume the OP’s marriage is invalid so she has no need of either a radical sanation or convalidation. If there is a problem with validity, she’ll need to work with her pastor and the Tribunal to deal with it, and they’ll advise her on the next steps. I’d be inclined to rely on someone familiar with canon law to make this kind of recommendation.
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👍 EXACTLY!!!
This is why I said to take this matter up with the priest involved in the RCIA program. This isn’t their first time dealing with such matters.
 
Thanks all. I do have a valid marriage, so far as I understand it. it’s our first each but neither of us are Catholic. It was done by a United church minister on an off church location.

I don’t think the parish location is a problem. I’ll ask on Thursday when I go for my first session. It’s near where I do my grocery shopping (on Sunday actually lol).

First mass as an inquirer on Sunday. I’m stoked! Now I just have to figure out how to tell hubby what my Thursday and Sunday plans are for the next while will be lol. I don’t think he will really care…as long as I don’t go all preachy.

The RCIA coordinator returned my email today and I now have lots of refreshing to do - I have done lots of reading already so I feel confident I won’t be lost through the whole process.

Thanks for all the posts, I appreciate it!!
 
Best wishes to you, Rachel. I hope this will be a wonderful time filled with many blessings.
 
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