Question about my marriage, baptism, and wife's possible conversion

[Duke]

This is a multi -part question. I apologize for the length.

I am Catholic and my wife is not. I grew up attending mass with family but was not “raised” Catholic. I was not confirmed until 2013 (RCIA). My wife is christian and actually very much wants to convert to Catholicism. She has wanted to convert for years but I told her to not just convert for me and make sure it was what she really wanted. She comes to mass with me basically every time I go. Years after my confirmation, she still wants to convert.

Our issue is that we got married after my confirmation and we got married outside of the church. We both had moved multiple times and had not found a church we felt at home yet, and I lived 4 hours away from the church where I was confirmed (and felt comfortable). Our lives were crazy at the time. I was finishing a law degree and she was starting a new job so we just got married quickly bc we wanted to start a family. I did not feel comfortable with the churches in the area I was living and thus I was not really comfortable reaching out to them about marriage. Looking back I regret my decision.

Fast forward to today and my wife wants to convert still, our marraige is outside the church and not valid, and we are now expecting our first child. We both want the child to be baptised in the Catholic church and we both intend to raise him Catholic.

How do we go about her conversion, how do we get our marriage approved by the church, and how do we have our child baptised Catholic? Is annulment the only path to acheive this?

 

[Elf01]

how do we get our marriage approved by the church,

I don’t see anything about a prior marriage for either of you, so a simple convalidation should be all that is needed to sort out your marriage. If there is one then yes an annulment will be needed.

How do we go about her conversion

how do we have our child baptised Catholic?

Speak to your priest about RCIA for her and about getting your child bapized.

 

[1ke]

How do we go about her conversion, how do we get our marriage approved by the church, and how do we have our child baptised Catholic?

You go to your priest and tell him you want to convalidate your marriage. You tell him your wife desires full communion. And you sign up for whatever baptismal prep classes or process your parish has, ask your priest.

Is annulment the only path to acheive this?

I don’t understand what a decree of nullity has to do with it. Were either of you married previously?

 

[Duke]

Neither of us have a prior marraige.

Thank you.

 

[Horton]

This is as easy as it sounds. Call the parish office to speak to either the priest or the RCIA director. You will need your marriage convalidated at some point but your priest or RCIA Director can guide you in when.

Just a note, as you are not currently in a valid marriage you should be refraining from receiving communion. This may have been something you were completely unaware of, so don’t stress to much over it. Talk to your priest.

 

[1ke]

Just a note, as you are not currently in a valid marriage you should be refraining from receiving communion.

This is not a universally true statement. The couple may have been counseled by their priest regarding continence and receiving communion.

 

[Horton]

True. I was speaking generally and did advise the OP to speak to the priest about it.

 

[Duke]

Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction. I will talk to my local priest about convalidation.

I really appreciate it!