Orthodox Child, Catholic Sacraments?

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Christ_is_Risen

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Hello,

I am Catholic. My wife is Greek Orthodox. We were married in her Church, and our children have received the Sacraments of Inititation in the GO Church. I feel this is important because I moved my wife out to my hometown, which has very few Greeks, and no Orthodox Church. I wanted my kids to be able to experience their mother’s side of the family hertiage and culture. They get my religious culture by attending Catholic School and attending Mass.

So, the problem is that the nearest Orthodox Church is over an hour from where we live. We don’t make it there nearly as often as we should. Our family attends Catholic liturgy far more frequently. My eldest daughter is nearly old enough where her classmates are going to prepare to receive First Communion. She already has in the GO Church.

I have spoken with the few Greeks in my hometown, and they said in the past the GO Church would grant dispensations to allow GO church members to receive Catholic sacraments because we are so far from an Orthodox Church.

Does anyone have any experience with this, or know anything about the process? Obviously, we will have to approach the GO Church too, but I can’t find any active GO forums on-line, and would like to have some knowledge about the process (if it still exists today) before we approach the GO priest.

I want my daughters very much to be part of both faith traditions, since we are so close, and they are both part of their hertigage. I also don’t want her to be denied the Eucharist because of how far we live from her Church.

Thanks in advance.!🙂

PS. I also asked this question via the apologists, but am looking for any real world experiences too.
 
You have a moral obligation to raise your children as Catholics.
 
aemcpa said:
You have a moral obligation to raise your children as Catholics.
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Why? He was married in the Orthodox Church. Unless he got a dispensation to be married there, he did not vow to bring his children up in the Catholic faith.
 
JackieMom said:
Why? He was married in the Orthodox Church. Unless he got a dispensation to be married there, he did not vow to bring his children up in the Catholic faith.
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Is the marriage even valid without a dispensation?
The Canon law says:

Can. 1124 Without express permission of the competent authority, a marriage is prohibited between two baptized persons of whom one is baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it after baptism and has not defected from it by a formal act and the other of whom is enrolled in a Church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the Catholic Church.
 
anjoh66 said:
Is the marriage even valid without a dispensation?
The Canon law says:

Can. 1124 Without express permission of the competent authority, a marriage is prohibited between two baptized persons of whom one is baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it after baptism and has not defected from it by a formal act and the other of whom is enrolled in a Church or ecclesial community not in full communion with the Catholic Church.
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Valid but illicit? I mean, the marriage happened. Just in contrary to Canon Law. So what’s the effect? Is he excommunicated? Null marriage? (This last one would be ridiculous as the marriage happened, grace was there, etc.)
 
anjoh66 said:
Is the marriage even valid without a dispensation?
The Canon law says:
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Actually, that is not what the canon says anymore. The matter of a formal defection was removed in 2009 and there is no mention of it anymore; it no longer has a juridicial effect.
 
When a Roman marries an Orthodox they are supposed to be married in the Orthodox Church, because by Roman beliefs it is still a “valid” Sacrament and from the Orthodox perspective the only way for it to be “valid” for the Orthodox member is to be married in the Orthodox Church. (Warning, link is to a PDF document from your USCCB)

To the OP: The official process is to contact the Orthodox priest closest to you - and it doesn’t have to be a Greek priest. Your wife is Orthodox, not just Greek Orthodox. You have to get permission from the local priest, who probably has to get permission from the local Bishop. Whatever they say is as law, they may allow it, they may not. They may require some talks with you both before their decision, they may not. Ultimately you have to talk to the local priest.
 
JackieMom said:
Why? He was married in the Orthodox Church. Unless he got a dispensation to be married there, he did not vow to bring his children up in the Catholic faith.
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A Catholic is always obligated to raise his children Catholic. Non-Catholics are the ones that are required to promise to raise children Catholic when seeking marriage to a Catholic.
 
aemcpa said:
A Catholic is always obligated to raise his children Catholic. Non-Catholics are the ones that are required to promise to raise children Catholic when seeking marriage to a Catholic.
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Not anymore. Your church removed that requirement from your preparations. Non-Catholics don’t have to promise anything.
 
Rawb said:
Not anymore. Your church removed that requirement from your preparations. Non-Catholics don’t have to promise anything.
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You are correct. I actually thought “were” as I apparently typed “are”. Thank you for the correction.
 
Christ_is_Risen said:
Hello,

I am Catholic. My wife is Greek Orthodox. We were married in her Church, and our children have received the Sacraments of Inititation in the GO Church. I feel this is important because I moved my wife out to my hometown, which has very few Greeks, and no Orthodox Church. I wanted my kids to be able to experience their mother’s side of the family hertiage and culture. They get my religious culture by attending Catholic School and attending Mass.

So, the problem is that the nearest Orthodox Church is over an hour from where we live. We don’t make it there nearly as often as we should. Our family attends Catholic liturgy far more frequently. My eldest daughter is nearly old enough where her classmates are going to prepare to receive First Communion. She already has in the GO Church.

I have spoken with the few Greeks in my hometown, and they said in the past the GO Church would grant dispensations to allow GO church members to receive Catholic sacraments because we are so far from an Orthodox Church.

Does anyone have any experience with this, or know anything about the process? Obviously, we will have to approach the GO Church too, but I can’t find any active GO forums on-line, and would like to have some knowledge about the process (if it still exists today) before we approach the GO priest.

I want my daughters very much to be part of both faith traditions, since we are so close, and they are both part of their hertigage. I also don’t want her to be denied the Eucharist because of how far we live from her Church.

Thanks in advance.!🙂

PS. I also asked this question via the apologists, but am looking for any real world experiences too.
Click to expand...
A 2 hr drive to bring your daughters to Divine Liturgy and receive the Sacraments in their Church is worth it. Jesus Christ & His Church is worth far more than a long drive and the cost of gasoline. What a small sacrifice to make each week for something so amazing? 🙂 There are people through out the world who must endure far more to get to Divine Liturgy. By baptizing your girls Orthodox you’ve made it your responsibility to see through that decision for your children’s spiritual life.

Religion isn’t a matter of convenience.
 
Rawb said:
Not anymore. Your church removed that requirement from your preparations. Non-Catholics don’t have to promise anything.
Click to expand...
Catholics, on the other hand, are still bound by canon law to raise their children Catholic.
 
Christ_is_Risen said:
Hello,

I am Catholic. My wife is Greek Orthodox. We were married in her Church, and our children have received the Sacraments of Inititation in the GO Church. I feel this is important because I moved my wife out to my hometown, which has very few Greeks, and no Orthodox Church. I wanted my kids to be able to experience their mother’s side of the family hertiage and culture. They get my religious culture by attending Catholic School and attending Mass.

So, the problem is that the nearest Orthodox Church is over an hour from where we live. We don’t make it there nearly as often as we should. Our family attends Catholic liturgy far more frequently. My eldest daughter is nearly old enough where her classmates are going to prepare to receive First Communion. She already has in the GO Church.

I have spoken with the few Greeks in my hometown, and they said in the past the GO Church would grant dispensations to allow GO church members to receive Catholic sacraments because we are so far from an Orthodox Church.

Does anyone have any experience with this, or know anything about the process? Obviously, we will have to approach the GO Church too, but I can’t find any active GO forums on-line, and would like to have some knowledge about the process (if it still exists today) before we approach the GO priest.

I want my daughters very much to be part of both faith traditions, since we are so close, and they are both part of their hertigage. I also don’t want her to be denied the Eucharist because of how far we live from her Church.

Thanks in advance.!🙂

PS. I also asked this question via the apologists, but am looking for any real world experiences too.
Click to expand...
A 2 hr drive to bring your daughters to Divine Liturgy and receive the Sacraments in their Church is worth it. Jesus Christ & His Church is worth far more than a long drive and the cost of gasoline. What a small sacrifice to make each week for something so amazing? 🙂 There are people through out the world who must endure far more to get to Divine Liturgy. By baptizing your girls Orthodox you’ve made it your responsibility to see through that decision for your children’s spiritual life.

Religion isn’t a matter of convenience.
 
Orthodox children should not be burdened by Roman Catholic Canon Law. They were baptized Orthodox, they should be raised Orthodox. How the OP works this out between the two churches is a private matter, but I hardly think that this thread was started so that he could receive heavy-handed replies about how he’s somehow failing in his Roman Catholic duty by raising his children in a Church that the Roman Catholic Church itself says has valid sacraments. The whole reason this is an issue is that no Orthodox Church is willing to categorically appraise non-Orthodox sacraments as being this or that (“validity” is not a useful concept, from an Orthodox perspective), so the OP will have to contact the local priest and pray for the best. I would think from the RC side, however, the matter would be settled with reference to your own documents. I mean, you either believe Orthodox sacraments are valid or not. Since official documents from the USCCB say they are…
 
dzheremi said:
Orthodox children should not be burdened by Roman Catholic Canon Law. They were baptized Orthodox, they should be raised Orthodox. How the OP works this out between the two churches is a private matter, but I hardly think that this thread was started so that he could receive heavy-handed replies about how he’s somehow failing in his Roman Catholic duty by raising his children in a Church that the Roman Catholic Church itself says has valid sacraments. The whole reason this is an issue is that no Orthodox Church is willing to categorically appraise non-Orthodox sacraments as being this or that (“validity” is not a useful concept, from an Orthodox perspective), so the OP will have to contact the local priest and pray for the best. I would think from the RC side, however, the matter would be settled with reference to your own documents. I mean, you either believe Orthodox sacraments are valid or not. Since official documents from the USCCB say they are…
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Of course the sacraments of the Orthodox are valid. (I don’t see how that’s not a useful concept - either the sacrament is received or it isn’t. Valid means it is, invalid means it isn’t.)

The fact of the matter is that the OP has failed in his responsibility as a Catholic (for some nebulous reason involving family and culture), and his children are now members of the Orthodox Church. His daughter should not be preparing for First Communion because she is not Catholic and is not permitted to receive Communion at Mass at all according to the discipline of the Orthodox Church. It is simply not possible to be both Catholic and Orthodox as the OP seems to wish his children to be.
 
Rawb said:
And Orthodox are required to raise their children Orthodox. 🤷
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Why do these things have to be so confusing and complicated? You’ve got a real catch-twenty-two here…(I hate the book that phrase comes from by the way…)
 
Hasire said:
Valid but illicit? I mean, the marriage happened. Just in contrary to Canon Law. So what’s the effect? Is he excommunicated? Null marriage? (This last one would be ridiculous as the marriage happened, grace was there, etc.)
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Yes, RC marriages are usually only “invalid” when someone wants out.
 
To the OP: you have had your children baptized in the Orthodox church. You should follow through and have them raised in it. You should attend Orthodox Divine Liturgy with your family on most Sundays. It is important that your children have constancy and consistency in their early lives before they leave home, and trying to raise them in two churches may be disastrous in the long-term. If I ever get married to an Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic who feels strongly about this, I will most certainly defer
 
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