Must I do this even if I'm not a member of the parish?

[torch621]

I recently received this e-mail from the church I attend.

So often, the parish office receives a request for a wedding when the couple or the couple’s family have already set a date and have reserved a reception hall without any consultation with the pastor or the parish calendar. Often the selected date is not available because of some parish weekend event (Fall Festival, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, etc.) Nerves get on edge, frustration levels rise, shifting to other resorts to preserve the date and the down payment heightens the stress in an already combustible situation.

All of this can be avoided by checking with the pastor and his schedule and the parish calendar before setting a date and signing a contract for said hall.

If the wedding is to take place at another parish because [parish name] cannot accommodate the date, the couple needs to know that can only happen with the stated permission of [the] pastor, the rightful pastor of his parishioners. If they have selected another priest to officiate at their wedding at [the parish], the pastor … needs to give canonical delegation to the priest for the marriage to be valid.

The above is not simply policy for [parish] but is the stipulation of canon law for the Roman Catholic Church.

Contact the pastor first when the fervor of an upcoming wedding stimulates all parties and save the proposed date until it is approved by the pastor for the parish calendar.

[name]
Pastor

I’m not currently a member of the parish. I attend Mass here because it’s closest to my house, and I plan on eventually moving out of state and registering with a parish in another state. My question is: Does this apply to me? Will I have to ask Monsignor to give canonical delegation to the priest of my new parish to officiate a wedding when I move there?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Keep in mind that I’m not a canon lawyer. If you need a canon lawyer’s perspective, I recommend that you contact the St. Joseph Foundation.

If you are not registered at another parish and are in the geographical boundaries of this parish, you might be a presumptive parishioner, particularly since you choose to attend this church as your regular church. Even so, if you register elsewhere, you become a member of that parish and subject to its pastor. So your problem – assuming for the sake of argument that there even is one – would be resolved when you register at another parish. You may also want to ask this question of the priest you ask to celebrate your nuptial liturgy, just to be on the safe side.

It is regrettable that the tone of the pastor’s email sounds so brusque, but I imagine that he is probably extremely frustrated with people who believe that the parish must work around them and the plans they have already set, rather than consult with the parish as to its schedule first before setting a date and paying out non-refundable deposits. Perhaps more consideration from couples requesting parish services would go a long way toward ensuring that the pastor need not get to the point of having to present a “non-negotiable” demeanor.