Matrimony by a civil official who happens to be a Catholic

[Tis_Bearself]

This question came into my mind while reading the other “Matrimony by a minister” thread and I decided to make my own thread because it’s a slightly different fact scenario and I didn’t want to confuse or derail the other thread.

The question in my mind involves the situation where a Catholic is a civil official with legal power to officiate at a marriage. It’s pretty clear that such marriages are legal, but I am wondering under what conditions the Catholic civil official might commit a sin, in the eyes of the Church, by officiating at them.

My question is in the next post because this post exceeded the character limits…
(continued next post)

 

[Tis_Bearself]

So, the fact situation is as follows:

1. Person X is a practicing Catholic
2. Person X is NOT ordained as a Catholic priest, deacon or bishop
3. Person X is also NOT ordained/ has NOT pursued ordination as any other denomination, such as mail-order minister for Universal Life Church or Pastafarians, or as a minister of some Protestant faith; such outside “ordinations” would likely be a sin in themselves as discussed in the other thread.
4. Person X holds a position such as judge, or vice president of the USA, or captain of a ship, that legally allows them to officiate at weddings in their jurisdiction (e.g. in the USA, in their state, on their ship, etc.)

Here are my questions based on the above facts:

1. Would it be a sin for X to officiate at a civil same-sex marriage?
   I’m guessing the answer is generally YES, it would be a sin, even though Joe Biden did it as VP, twice.
   I’m also guessing that the answer might be NO, not a sin, if X somehow could not tell it was a same-sex marriage, for example if one person was transgender and visually appeared to be the opposite gender, and X did not know the person well enough to know they were trans.
2. Would it be a sin for X to officiate at the civil marriage if either one or both spouses is Catholic? The idea being that Catholics are supposed to get married in the Church, not civilly.
   Does the answer change if X doesn’t know that one or both spouses are Catholic?
   Does X have a duty to find out this information?
3. Would it be a sin for X to officiate at the civil marriage of a Catholic who had been previously divorced with no annulment?
   Does the answer change if X doesn’t know the person is Catholic and/or doesn’t know the person’s personal situation with respect to their past marriage?
   Does X have a duty to find out this information?
4. Do the answers to (2) and (3) change if X can easily refuse to perform the wedding and is not required or expected to do these weddings as part of his or her job?

For example, the captain of a ship, or the vice president of the United States, or a federal appellate judge, CAN marry people but is not REQUIRED to do so. He can say no (perhaps on the basis that he’s too busy, or doesn’t feel comfortable doing that, etc.) and still keep his job. He also can pick and choose whom he marries; for example, the federal appellate judge and the VP of the US would typically only agree to officiate weddings of their staff members, personal friends and workmates, etc. and not just be marrying people who walk in off the street.

But a judge or a county court official whose normal duties/ assignments involve marrying couples, and is expected to marry couples on a regular basis, cannot say no without quitting her job. Nor can she pick and choose and say “I’ll marry Couple A but not Couple B.” She is expected to marry everybody who comes before her with a valid marriage license or else quit her job.

I realize this is quite involved but I appreciate any answers people can give, especially to the situations that don’t involve same-sex marriage.

 

[InThePew]

• Would it be a sin for X to officiate at a civil same-sex marriage?

Possibly. Obviously the Church doesn’t recognise it as a marriage but, at the same time, we don’t make the laws and I’m hesitant about putting this in the same category as something like abortion - that is, a morally wrong law the must be resisted. Put it this way, if the official can avoid it they should but that’s not always possible.

• Would it be a sin for X to officiate at the civil marriage if either one or both spouses is Catholic? The idea being that Catholics are supposed to get married in the Church, not civilly.

No. Their problem not the official’s who can’t be expected to determine the religious beliefs or freedom to marry of each person who comes before him.

• Would it be a sin for X to officiate at the civil marriage of a Catholic who had been previously divorced with no annulment?

See above.

 

[Sursumcorda1]

Would it be a sin for X to officiate at a civil same-sex marriage?

X would be considered by the Church as scandalous since he/she is promoting a view of marriage that the Church rejects. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this about scandal:

2284 Scandal is an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. the person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.

2285 Scandal takes on a particular gravity by reason of the authority of those who cause it or the weakness of those who are scandalized.