Marriage to those incarcerated

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Peaceprints

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Is there Cannon Law prohibiting a Catholic man and Cathoilc woman from having the Sacrament of Matrimony if one of them is incarcerated? They would be able to have two day private visits as husband and wife once they are married.

Thank you for answering this.
 
We loved each other when we were young and we were to be married but his mother did not give him permission. We have been reunited, our love has not died, and we both have been practicing our Catholic faith. I truly believed he was to be my husband when I was young and believe God brought us back together. (Our story is a very long one).
 
Peaceprints said:
We loved each other when we were young and we were to be married but his mother did not give him permission. We have been reunited, our love has not died, and we both have been practicing our Catholic faith. I truly believed he was to be my husband when I was young and believe God brought us back together. (Our story is a very long one).
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OK…fair enough.
May I then suggest that you speak with your parish priest to see what you both have to do to get married in the CHurch.
I sure hope he is not in for a long time…
 
Thank you, Karin.

We both have taken all the necessary steps so far to be married. We can have a civil ceremony without any problem but we want our marriage to be blessed through the Sacrament of Matrimony. My parish priest approves of our situation and circumstances.
We need to know if there is any Cannon Law prohibiting our marriage. Because he is in prison, the ceremony will not be celebrated in a church. I will be going to the Bishop to ask his permission and I wanted to have as much information as possible before I meet with him. We also do not want to pursue anything that is against our Catholic faith. We have studied the cathechism and can find nothing that prohibits our union.
 
You can check Canon Law here . I haven’t looked deeply into this, but don’t recall anything on it. Is there a Catholic Chaplain at the prison? He may be the best one to help you. Failing that, does the Diocese have a Prison Ministry?
 
You’re taking all the right steps, and if your priest carries it out there at the prison then you’re okay. There is no canon law that I have ever heard of that pertains to this and you guys are on the right track.

On another note, I applaud your courage and committment. I realize that it’s difficult, but God gives grace.

I saw something in a fellow CAF member’s sig the other day that really struck home. It’s Sirach 8:5, which says,“Do not reproach a man who is turning away from sin; remember that we all deserve punishment.”
Pax tecum,
 
Thank you, Joe.

There is a Chaplain but he does not want to marry anyone. This might be because of the failure rate of such marriages. We know what our situation is and believe this is what is right for us.
Thanks again.
 
Peaceprints said:
Thank you, Joe.

There is a Chaplain but he does not want to marry anyone. This might be because of the failure rate of such marriages. We know what our situation is and believe this is what is right for us.
Thanks again.
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Yep… the stats are against you guys.

Only 15% of marriages survive incarceration.
Of that 15%, only 3% survive the year following release.
Yet those who come to a conversion experience while “down” have a very high rate (85-90% if I recall correctly) of success at not returning to prison again. Needless to say their families and spouses share in that.

The last stats I saw said that although the U.S. has only 5% of the total world population, it has a whopping 25% of the world’s prison population. I’m not sure what that means, but that disparity seems suspect to me. :confused:
Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum,
 
Thank you, CM.

Asking God for forgiveness of our sins and helping others to know Jesus, helps us each day. My future husband can not undo what he has done but he has asked God to forgive him. He prays the rosary and listens to Mass on the radio everyday. He also listens to Catholic Answers Live and Open Forum…so do I…and we have learned so much about our faith. This is why we do not want to do anything that would hurt the positive steps we have taken in our lives.

We have courage because we know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and ask the Holy Spirit for help each day. He gave me a medal of the Blessed Mother to wear each day. It helps to remind me of our love. I also try to be like Mary. We also pray at the same time each day. This way…“the family that prays together stays together”.

I appreciate your kind words.
 
I don’t know a lot of stats but read somewhere that there is over 1 1/2 million people in prison in the US and it is growing at a fast pace.

We know that the stats are against us but with God at the center of our marriage, no one will separate us. (He said this). If we can get married, he wants to have a cross engraved on our rings between our names as a symbol that our faith in God’s love will keep our marriage strong.
 
the person to address your questions and concerns is the priest who will witness your marriage. One consideration of course would be–and no need to share here–why the person is in prison in the first place. Of the crime is of a nature that would indicate some incapacity to give full consent and otherwise fulfill the requirements for ability to contract a valid marriage, that of course would be a barrier.
 
Thank you, Puzzleannie,

The crime and the sentence have been discussed with my parish priest. There would be conjugal visits to consummate the marriage and we would practice NFP.
 
Peaceprints said:
Thank you, Puzzleannie,

The crime and the sentence have been discussed with my parish priest. There would be conjugal visits to consummate the marriage and we would practice NFP.
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then it sounds like the priest has the situation well in hand, and if there were canon law issues he would have told you
 
Joe_Kelley said:
You can check Canon Law here . I haven’t looked deeply into this, but don’t recall anything on it. Is there a Catholic Chaplain at the prison? He may be the best one to help you. Failing that, does the Diocese have a Prison Ministry?
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Joe,
I read through the Vatican website on Cannon Law and the information was very helpful. Thank you for sharing this with me. Though I am not a lawyer, it looks like I need to get permission to have the marriage celebrated outside the walls of a Catholic church. There is only mention of one reason a person can not marry because of a crime and my fiance does not fall under that reason.

Thank you again for your help.
 
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