Non catholic weddings

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bea1957 said:
Is it a sin to attend a non-catholic wedding?
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I see you are Catholic. You have a right to be taught about your religion. Seems that someone dropped the ball. Were you paying attention in your catechism class?
 
sedonaman said:
I see you are Catholic. You have a right to be taught about your religion. Seems that someone dropped the ball. Were you paying attention in your catechism class?
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This a helpful post.

To the OP, yes, you can attend non-Catholic weddings.
 
@Sedonaman. Been a long time since I attended catechism. And, yes i must of been listening in class, that’s why I still am a Catholic to this day. I do not recall ever talking about attending non-catholic weddings, must have been absent on that day. I have always believed that we can attend non catholic weddings, just not participate in the ceremony. the reason why I posted this question was because my mother, told me that our priest told her that we couldn’t and that we would be commiting a sin, and if we attended ,it would be like if we are accepting their choice to marry in a non-catholic church. It is my niece that is getting married. She was raised catholic, but is not a practicing catholic. My mother said that the priest told her if we attended, it would offend God. I am not attending, to show that I approve, but that I love my niece, and I will pray for her, that someday, she will return to the catholic faith and want to marry in a catholic church. And for me, like I told my mother, God knows what in my heart. I will attend to show her my love not to judge her.
Thanks for your comment.
 
bea1957 said:
@Sedonaman. Been a long time since I attended catechism. And, yes i must of been listening in class, that’s why I still am a Catholic to this day. I do not recall ever talking about attending non-catholic weddings, must have been absent on that day. I have always believed that we can attend non catholic weddings, just not participate in the ceremony. the reason why I posted this question was because my mother, told me that our priest told her that we couldn’t and that we would be commiting a sin, and if we attended ,it would be like if we are accepting their choice to marry in a non-catholic church. It is my niece that is getting married. She was raised catholic, but is not a practicing catholic. My mother said that the priest told her if we attended, it would offend God. I am not attending, to show that I approve, but that I love my niece, and I will pray for her, that someday, she will return to the catholic faith and want to marry in a catholic church. And for me, like I told my mother, God knows what in my heart. I will attend to show her my love not to judge her.
Thanks for your comment.
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This is a different question than you first asked. There is no restriction on attending a non-Catholic wedding of two non-Catholics.

The case is different if one of the parties is a Catholic, even non-practicing. Without the proper dispensation such a marriage is considered invalid by the Catholic Church and I understand Catholics should not attend.
 
Some 50 years ago I was an usher/groomsman in the weddings of three non-Catholic classmates. I asked my priest at the time and he said there was no problem. There was some question at the time as to whether one could by Best Man, which didn’t affect my case. I have later learned that that too is probably permitted, but haven’t had a need to inquire deeply into that.
 
bea1957 said:
@Sedonaman. Been a long time since I attended catechism. And, yes i must of been listening in class, that’s why I still am a Catholic to this day. I do not recall ever talking about attending non-catholic weddings, must have been absent on that day. I have always believed that we can attend non catholic weddings, just not participate in the ceremony. the reason why I posted this question was because my mother, told me that our priest told her that we couldn’t and that we would be commiting a sin, and if we attended ,it would be like if we are accepting their choice to marry in a non-catholic church. It is my niece that is getting married. She was raised catholic, but is not a practicing catholic. My mother said that the priest told her if we attended, it would offend God. I am not attending, to show that I approve, but that I love my niece, and I will pray for her, that someday, she will return to the catholic faith and want to marry in a catholic church. And for me, like I told my mother, God knows what in my heart. I will attend to show her my love not to judge her.
Thanks for your comment.
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When we discussed the sacraments in catechism and marriage came up, the nun told us that we could attend non-Catholic weddings, but you had to get your priest’s permission to participate because the ceremony is considered an act of worship. Usually, there should be no problem. In your case with a relative getting married, one must consider keeping peace in the family, IMHO, and not attending might create problems. Your call.
 
SyCarl said:
This is a different question than you first asked. There is no restriction on attending a non-Catholic wedding of two non-Catholics.

The case is different if one of the parties is a Catholic, even non-practicing. Without the proper dispensation such a marriage is considered invalid by the Catholic Church and I understand Catholics should not attend.
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This is not completely accurate. Yes, a marriage between a Catholic and a non-Catholic without the dispensation of the Catholic bishop is invalid (maybe you can ask your niece to obtain this from your bishop?).

But there is no rule that says a Catholic cannot attend an invalid wedding. There is a rule that a Catholic cannot show approval for an invalid wedding. Therefore, as long as your attendance is made clear that you are not giving your approval of the wedding but merely for the purpose of peace in the family or what-not, then it is fine for you to attend.

Peace.
 
sedonaman said:
When we discussed the sacraments in catechism and marriage came up, the nun told us that we could attend non-Catholic weddings, but you had to get your priest’s permission to participate because the ceremony is considered an act of worship. Usually, there should be no problem. In your case with a relative getting married, one must consider keeping peace in the family, IMHO, and not attending might create problems. Your call.
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This is not accurate either. Worship is not limited to the Catholic church. According to Catholic doctrine - everybody, Catholic or not, is encouraged to worship God.
 
pinay said:
This is not accurate either. Worship is not limited to the Catholic church. According to Catholic doctrine - everybody, Catholic or not, is encouraged to worship God.
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Are Catholics allowed to worship in non-Catholic churches? I don’t think so.
 
bea1957 said:
Is it a sin to attend a non-catholic wedding?
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no.
attending a wedding is NOT joining in non-Catholic worship, anymore than attending a football game makes you a player
the question has been asked and answered on AAA, please do a search

as usual, OP asks a question, gets a valid answer, then changes the question
this is not what you asked. The question of a Catholic getting invalidly married is an entirely new one, that has also been answered in AAA.
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sedonaman said:
I didn’t say “attend”. I said “participate”.
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in what way would you be participating as a guest at a wedding?
If this is the wedding of a Catholic family member who has chosen to reject the Church and her teaching on marriage, no you cannot participate. Whether you attend is a prudential judgement, but yes, will likely be interpreted as approval. Even serving as a witness at the wedding of two-non Catholics is not problematic for a Catholic, as it does not constitute participating in worship.

You are the one accusing others of not knowing what the catechism teaches, please cite the relevant sections that cover the two very different questions addressed in this thread.
 
puzzleannie said:
in what way would you be participating as a guest at a wedding?
…
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This is what I said
When we discussed the sacraments in catechism and marriage came up, the nun told us that we could attend non-Catholic weddings, but you had to get your priest’s permission to participate because the ceremony is considered an act of worship.
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attend: to be present at
participate: to take or have a part or share, as with others; partake
– dictionary.com

“Attending” is merely your presence at; “participating” means being part of the wedding party, such as best man or maid of honor. One of the reasons for not allowing this is you might be asked to do something against your faith, such as receive what the other church calls communion.
 
sedonaman said:
Are Catholics allowed to worship in non-Catholic churches? I don’t think so.
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Actually the answer is YES. You are allowed to worship in your own Catholic manner in a non-Catholic church. No, you can’t partake of the Eucharist or Holy Communion or Sacrament - whatever it is they call the “Breaking of Bread” part of worship.

Yes, my family is Catholic and yes, they sometimes go to my church after they get off theirs (the schedule just happened to fit perfectly so I can ride home with them). So, I’m 100% sure on this one.

Maybe I’m not understanding your use of the word “worship”. Because… you can be at the mall and still worship…
 
sedonaman said:
This is what I said

attend: to be present at
participate: to take or have a part or share, as with others; partake
– dictionary.com

“Attending” is merely your presence at; “participating” means being part of the wedding party, such as best man or maid of honor. One of the reasons for not allowing this is you might be asked to do something against your faith, such as receive what the other church calls communion.
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And I’m telling you this is not completely true. A Catholic can be a witness to a non-Catholic wedding as long as both the bride and groom are non-Catholics or if one is catholic and received the proper dispensation. Yes, that’s participate. Because such a wedding is VALID according to the Catholic church.

That is… if you take that wedding certificate and present it to the Catholic priest, he will say, Yep, you are married!

In any other case - like when one is catholic and did not receive dispensation, then when that couple presents the wedding certificate to the Catholic priest, the priest will tell you, nope! You’re not married!

I’m not sure about this, but any non-Christian wedding is not valid either, I don’t think.
 
pinay said:
And I’m telling you this is not completely true. A Catholic can be a witness to a non-Catholic wedding as long as both the bride and groom are non-Catholics or if one is catholic and received the proper dispensation. Yes, that’s participate. Because such a wedding is VALID according to the Catholic church.

That is… if you take that wedding certificate and present it to the Catholic priest, he will say, Yep, you are married!

In any other case - like when one is catholic and did not receive dispensation, then when that couple presents the wedding certificate to the Catholic priest, the priest will tell you, nope! You’re not married!

I’m not sure about this, but any non-Christian wedding is not valid either, I don’t think.
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Whether a Catholic can participate has nothing to do with whether the wedding is valid or not.
 
sedonaman said:
This is what I said

attend: to be present at
participate: to take or have a part or share, as with others; partake
– dictionary.com

“Attending” is merely your presence at; “participating” means being part of the wedding party, such as best man or maid of honor. One of the reasons for not allowing this is you might be asked to do something against your faith, such as receive what the other church calls communion.
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you had better ask your pastor, since the answers here are so conflicting. Witnessing a valid sacramental marriage, as a union between two baptized non-Catholics will be, is not contrary to your Catholic faith, and is not participating in worship. Reception of communion does not even enter into this discussion. Participating would be officiating at such a wedding.
 
sedonaman said:
Whether a Catholic can participate has nothing to do with whether the wedding is valid or not.
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Yes it does! If you don’t believe me, read your catechism! Approval of non-Catholic Christian weddings to non-Catholic Christian couples are completely alright!
 
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