Procedures for marriage convalidation

[Eblessed46]

My husband and I have been married just short of 30 years. We have 3 children who we raised in the Catholic church. I am a cradle Catholic and my husband was baptized Catholic and then recieved Eucharist and Confirmation at his first wedding ceremony. Here lies my dilema. Obviously by my previous statement I am my husbands second wife. At the time of our wedding, I was 19 years old and did not have any true faith and had become a twice a year Catholic. I looked the other way when it came to my husbands divorce and went ahead and married him in a Unity Church. We did not believe in Annullment and believed that his confession to God in prayer was all that was necessary to bless our marriage. His first wife was not faithful many times in their marriage and that was the reason that the marriage collapsed. We have both been of the belief that her wrongs were justification enough for their divorce. Our children were baptized in the church as infants, the pastor knowing full well of our marital situation, but allowed the baptisms because my parents were very committed practicing Catholics. We pledged to raise our children in the church which we did, as well as being involved ourselves in he community. Through this committment, our faith has grown and the reality that the Catholic faith is the true church of Christ has manifested itself in our lives. My husbands first wife has passed away and we are now interested in having our marriage convalidated…what are the procedures for this? I know my statement was lengthy but I wanted to give some history. I will appreciate any response that is meant to be truly helpful.

 

[1ke]

Meet with your pastor. He will guide you.

The exact procedures vary from diocese to diocese. There will be some investigation paperwork-- for example, providing your baptismal certificates, etc., and information about his first marriage.

Then, the priest will decide what, if any, instruction in the Sacrament is necessary… some of which will be at his discretion and some that may be required by the diocese.

The convalidation itself is a short ceremony that can be done in or outside Mass. You will exchange vows before the priest and two witnesses.

God bless you for your desire to convalidate your marriage and resume the sacramental life.

Go see your pastor, he will help you get started.

 

[SMHW]

Best thing to do is just to talk to your pastor and ask.

You will almost certainly be asked for an official copy of the deceased wife’s death certificate so it would probably be a good idea to go about requesting one. You’ll also need new copies of yours and your husband’s baptismal certificates. These need to be requested from the parishes where you were baptized.

 

[Eblessed46]

Than you for your responses, they are helpful. I will work on getting our current copies of our Baptismal certificates and will try to find out about getting the ex-wifes death certificate. I’m not sure how I would go about that but will work on it. Thanks again. God Bless.

 

[puzzleannie]

meet with your Pastor and follow his guidance because your feelings about marriage and annulment are colored by a lot of mis-information, which he can clear up for you. You want and need to have your marriage put right with the Church so you can return to the sacraments, the centrality of life for Catholics. God bless you. The process is generally much simpler than people realize.

 

[Eblessed46]

Thank you again for your responses. I assumed that the convalidation would just happen now that my husbands ex-wife is passed. We are eager to have our marriage validated as over these 30 years we have both grown in the faith, especially my husband who had been rather negative for many of these years. I must tell you that throughout these years I was given permission by 2 seperate priests from 2 seperate parishes to recieve the sacraments so I have not been without. My husband did not recieve until his just recently, his wife passed almost 2 years ago. We willbe working on this and appreciate your prayers and guidance.