Question about Catholic Marriage Prior to Vatican II

[Andrew_11]

Prior to Vatican II, was it permissible for a Catholic to marry a non-Catholic?

 

[puzzleannie]

yes, with a dispensation from the bishop, this is still the law, but dispensations were harder to get, the ceremony was usually not in church but in the vestibule or rectory, never within a nuptial Mass with communion. This is how my Methodist mom married my Catholic dad. She was required to take some instructions so she would understand the promises made to accept life, raise the children Catholic etc. She converted when I was a child. It was strongly discouraged to even date non-Catholics, due the the well-grounded fear of the Catholic party and the children being in danger of losing their faith. For the record, non-Catholics used to be much more adament against their members marrying Catholics, for similar reasons. Most of my mom’s family disowned her, and her mother was always very cold toward my dad.

 

[OutinChgoburbs]

It wasn’t encouraged, but possible. As I recall, the bride and groom were usually relegated to outside the altar rail or even to a side chapel or rectory.

Beverly Bunn, a Presbyterian, married her husband, Clarence, in a Catholic parish in Nevada during WWII. She has yet to convert, but has always been one of my favorite authors, Beverly Cleary. It was her parents that were none too pleased, Clarence’s mother having lent her car for the trip, and his sister “standing up” as one of the witnesses.

 

[Julianna]

Prior to Vatican II, was it permissible for a Catholic to marry a non-Catholic?

My parents were married Sept 3, 1956 in a Catholic Church. My mother is a Baptist. They were not allowed up to the altar because my mother was not Catholic. The ceremony was performed between the two front pews. It was a long drawn out process to get this done. At first the priest said, no way. So my dad, said, “well, the Baptist church around the corner will marry us, see ya.” My grandmother intervened…and they were married in the Catholic church. My grandmother reminded him that the mahogany altar was not only polished by her and the ladies…it was also bought and paid for by the pennies they set aside for it to be built. Very smart lady.

When my brother and sis in law got married, in 1990 (sis in law is Baptist), they were married at the altar.

My mother and dad had to attend classes for a year before they got married. My bro and sis in law attended classes for 6 weeks.

My mother had to sign a paper stating that she would raise any children from the marriage as Catholics. She did, we are. We also went to her church every other weekend…and when we visited my grandmother in SC…we went to the Baptist church and went to the Catholic church with my grandmothers neighbors.

 

[kleary]

1. “For a mixed marriage all sacred rites are forbidden and the marriage must take place OUTSIDE THE CHURCH, unless the Ordinary permit it to be held therein” [Roman Ritual VIII, i, 20)

2."The Ordinary (Bishop)may permit some of the usual ecclesiastical ceremonies, BUT NEVER MASS. [C.J.C. 1102, § 2… Even a private Mass (not the Nuptial one) is forbidden if in the circumstances it could be regarded as part of the marriage service.

1. The “Nuptial Blessing” (which is just one part of the Marriage Service before Mass) is NEVER given for a “mixed marriage” or on 2 November or during the Sacred Triduum.

Ken

 

[Rabbititus]

My maternal grandfather wasn’t Catholic, yet he and my grandmother were married in a Catholic church - supposedly in the vestibule rather than at the altar. Like others have mentioned, he had to promise to raise any children to be Catholics - which he did. My grandfather was raised a protestant, but never went to church.

 

[kleary]

Side note here - After Vatican II anyone, even mixed marriages married in the Catholic Church still must promise to raise their children Catholic. This is not a “Prior Vatican II only” rule. (I.E. Vatican II didn’t do away with this requirement)

Ken

 

[Anne1964]

My parents were married in 1954. My father was Catholic and my mother was Baptist. My mother agreed to have me raised Catholic. She had to attend classes for a year. They were married in the rectory.

 

[Andreas_Hofer]

Side note here - After Vatican II anyone, even mixed marriages married in the Catholic Church still must promise to raise their children Catholic. This is not a “Prior Vatican II only” rule. (I.E. Vatican II didn’t do away with this requirement)

Ken

Only the Catholic party to the marriage must make any promise at all, and that promise is only to do his best to raise the children Catholic, not explicitly to ensure they are raised Catholic. So the requirement is more lenient in two ways:

1. there is no obligation on the non-Catholic party, leaving him free to raise the children as he sees fit
2. the language of the Catholic’s promise is more vague, focusing on the effort to bring about the result (Catholic children) rather than the result itself