membership

[sophie_miller]

I was raised and baptized in both the roman catholic and methodist churches. I want to become a member of a Roman Catholic Church, but have been told that I must divorce my husband (a protestant), if I, alone, want to join the Church. This is sexist and truly out in left field. Any thoughts, rules , advice, corrections to this crazy deacon’s opinion?

 

[1edyson]

Welcome to CAF! Where exactly did you get your information from? I’ve never heard of being forced to divorced to enter the church. But if you we’re baptized as a Catholic, with water in the Name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit then you’re already here! The Catholic Church recognizes any proper form of Christian Baptism. Now when you say you were raised as Catholic, does that mean you had all the Sacraments administered? Depending on these questions you may or may not just need to go to confession and receive Holy Communion! But the best way to find out is go to speak to a priest in your diocese, or a RCIA director. Thanks and welcome home!
Quick question, what has triggered you’re call to come home? Also visit the site www.catholicscomehome.org for more info!

God Bless!

EDIT
Read your post better, Saw you spoke with a Deacon. Again to my understanding you don’t need to divorce your husband. I know a good number of mixed marriages, and I know that in certain circumstances you need to get special permission from the local bishop to do so however I would still talk to the priest of that parish.

 

[Genesis315]

Was this a Catholic deacon or a Baptist one that you spoke with?

As has been said, I have never heard of anyone being forced to be divorced (in pagan lands someone with multiple wives would not be able to married to more than one of course). There are many converts on this site in the same situation as you.

You should contact the your local priest to inquire–and if you have more questions you can always ask here too!

 

[puzzleannie]

I was raised and baptized in both the roman catholic and methodist churches. I want to become a member of a Roman Catholic Church, but have been told that I must divorce my husband (a protestant), if I, alone, want to join the Church. This is sexist and truly out in left field. Any thoughts, rules , advice, corrections to this crazy deacon’s opinion?

who told you this?
if it was not the priest who will be overseeing your preparation to enter the Church, or you local bishop or his designated representative, you were given wrong information. To get the right info, make an appointment with the pastor of the Catholic parish nearest you, or most convenient for you, tell him all the circumstances of your life, including your marital situation and get the real deal.

In general, the Catholic Church regards a marriage between two non-Catholics as valid, assuming they are free to marry.

who is the crazy deacon, what is his authority, and what is being left out of the story if that indeed was his advice. something is fishy

 

[Joe_5859]

I also have never heard of such a thing. Was this deacon at a parish that is recognized as a Catholic parish by your diocese? You should definitely talk to the pastor.

 

[LilyM]

Was this a Catholic deacon or a Baptist one that you spoke with?

As has been said, I have never heard of anyone being forced to be divorced (in pagan lands someone with multiple wives would not be able to married to more than one of course). There are many converts on this site in the same situation as you.

You should contact the your local priest to inquire–and if you have more questions you can always ask here too!

The only situation I can think of where you might be advised to divorce would be if you had a previous marriage which was not annulled prior to your current marriage, and the spouse of that marriage is still living, and there’s no hope of getting an annulment of that first marriage.

Remember in the Catholic Church marriage is a sacrament sealed by God - and what He has joined together He has joined for life provided it was entered into validly and with full consent. So we take issues of legal divorce (there’s no such thing as a Catholic divorce) and subsequent remarriage very seriously indeed.

 

[Joe_5859]

The only situation I can think of where you might be advised to divorce would be if you had a previous marriage which was not annulled prior to your current marriage, and the spouse of that marriage is still living, and there’s no hope of getting an annulment of that first marriage.

Remember in the Catholic Church marriage is a sacrament sealed by God - and what He has joined together He has joined for life provided it was entered into validly and with full consent. So we take issues of legal divorce (there’s no such thing as a Catholic divorce) and subsequent remarriage very seriously indeed.

I thought of that too, but it seems unlikely that a deacon could give that assessment in an informal discussion. She would have had to first tried to get an annulment and failed (which would take probably at least a year). Of course, if the annulment was not given, the person can appeal, which would drag out the process even longer.

Based on the OP, it didn’t sound like this is what was going on. But you never know.

 

[brigid12]

The only situation I can think of where you might be advised to divorce would be if you had a previous marriage which was not annulled prior to your current marriage, and the spouse of that marriage is still living, and there’s no hope of getting an annulment of that first marriage.

Remember in the Catholic Church marriage is a sacrament sealed by God - and what He has joined together He has joined for life provided it was entered into validly and with full consent. So we take issues of legal divorce (there’s no such thing as a Catholic divorce) and subsequent remarriage very seriously indeed.

Yup, as a convert (who was married at the time) Lily and the previous posters gave the information that I was given. Now, if you are irregularly married (one or the other of you was previously legally married) then you may need to live as brother and sister until the anullment for the previous marriage goes through (if it does), however when you really want to join the Church, partaking of the Sacraments, it is easy to live as brother and sister (at least that was the case for me ).
If I were you, I’d make an appointment with the priest to have your situation explained to you** clearly**.