Question on communion for converts

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maggiec

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I listen to the journey home almost daily and had a question concerning converts to the Catholic Faith.
When a married person joins the church and the spouse is not ready to join, can the person that joined receive communion?
Since the law states that your marriage needs to be a sacramental marriage what is the rule on this.
Maggie
 
Dear Maggie,

Yes, the convert can receive. It isn’t the case that a marriage has to be “sacramental” in order for a spouse to receive–the marriage must be valid, however. When two non-Catholics marry and one enters the Church, the Church automatically presumes that the marriage is valid. So, reception of Communion is fine… Does that help?
 
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maggiec:
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I listen to the journey home almost daily and had a question concerning converts to the Catholic Faith.
When a married person joins the church and the spouse is not ready to join, can the person that joined receive communion?
Since the law states that your marriage needs to be a sacramental marriage what is the rule on this.
Maggie
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I believe that if one officially joins the Church (goes through RCIA program, etc) and is Baptized and Confirmed and receives First Communion, they can rightfully receive. The Church has recognized marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics under certain circumstances.
 
You need to have “officially joined the church” as tmitchell2 describes to receive the sacraments. During the process of joining, your priest would have determined whether or not you were in a valid, sacramental marriage, and if not helped you to make it so. If you have lingering questions why don’t you talk to your priest and get them cleared up?
 
I’m sorry to nitpick but I want to say again that a marriage does not have to be “sacramental” in order for a Catholic, convert spouse to receive Communion. A valid marriage? Yes. And, the Church says (in canon law) that marriage enjoys the favor of the law which means that all marriages, whether Catholic or not, are presumed to be valid. So, a priest wouldn’t really do much checking into the marriage of a person who is converting. Seeing a marriage license would be enough, it seems to me. But, I’ve only had one canon law course!
 
Thanks to all who responded to my question Br Dan, what is the difference between a sacramental maggiage and valid marriage, I thought it was all the same.
Maggie
 
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maggiec:
Thanks to all who responded to my question Br Dan, what is the difference between a sacramental maggiage and valid marriage, I thought it was all the same.
Maggie
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Maggie,

I am not Br.Dan, but I can help here, because I’ve had to explain it often.

A valid marriage is a marriage between a man and a woman who are free to marry. This can be two unbaptized persons, one non-Catholic christian and one unbapitzed person, or two baptized persons, Catholic or not.

If only one person is Catholic, the marriage must take place in the Catholic Church, or the Catholic partner must recieve a dispensation allowing them to marry in another setting.

For a marriage to be sacramental, it must first be valid. After that, a sacramental marriage can only take place between two baptized Christians. A baptized couple who were in an invalid marriage can have the marriage blessed by a priest when the circumstances that made in invalid have changed.

In order for a Catholic to be able to receive communion, she must be in a valid marriage, if she is married, but it need not be a sacramental marriage.

I hope this clears things up rather than being more confusing. I have a natural, valid marriage; that is, I married an unbaptized man before I became Catholic – and I’ve had people tell me I couldn’t receive communion, so I checked into this very carefully.

Br. Dan is telling you true – it’s validity that counts.
 
“So, a priest wouldn’t really do much checking into the marriage of a person who is converting”

But sufficient questions are asked at least to determine if additional investigation is necessary.

Technically a “Convert” is a person who is or has become Catholic (Christian) and was a not Baptized prior to their conversion. A “Sacramental Marriage” can only take place between two Baptized persons. So a valid Marriage can exist between a Baptized Christian and a non-Christian (Jew for instance) or between two non-Baptized persons or in the case of some Evnagelicals between a Baptized Christian and a non-Baptized “Evangelical Christian”. These could be valid but not Sacramental Marriages. Note also that a valid non-Sacramental Marriage becomes Sacramental at the moment the non-Baptized person(s) is/are Baptized.
 
Br. Dan:
Dear Maggie,

Yes, the convert can receive. It isn’t the case that a marriage has to be “sacramental” in order for a spouse to receive–the marriage must be valid, however. When two non-Catholics marry and one enters the Church, the Church automatically presumes that the marriage is valid. So, reception of Communion is fine… Does that help?
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In my personal experience the Church “presumed” absolutely nothing. The Church is pretty picky about marriage. We had to demonstrate the validity of our marriage when I became Catholic. My husband, a “revert” had left the Catholic Church and married me in my denomination without obtaining the appropriate dispensation from the Catholic Church. Our marriage was, therefore, invalid and we had to do it all over – from scratch. Other marriages involving two non-Catholics may receive a “sanatione in radice” (I think that’s what it is called) or convalidation.

When my priest broke the news to me, I instantly recognized the implications and said: “So we have been living in open fornication for 23 years.” He nearly choked and said he “wouldn’t put it that way.” But that is, in fact, what it was in the eyes of the Church.
 
What about a woman who married a non-practicing (still non practicing) Catholic. They got married in her denomination, but she is thinking about the Catholic church now. Her husband still wants nothing to do with it and would never get the marriage validated in the Catholic church. Where does that leave her?
 
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MariaG:
What about a woman who married a non-practicing (still non practicing) Catholic. They got married in her denomination, but she is thinking about the Catholic church now. Her husband still wants nothing to do with it and would never get the marriage validated in the Catholic church. Where does that leave her?
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Assumming that the Marriage can be validated. Meaning that there are not other Marriages that need to be addressed. The Pastor has other means available to him via Canon Law to validate the Marriage. Even without the non-practicing persons cooperation if necessary.
 
All prior marriages(*) of either the convert or the non-converting spouse must be annulled prior to the convert officially joining the Church.

(*) Specifically, prior marriages that ended in divorce, where the ex is still living, must be investigated by a tribunal. If all such prior marriages are invalid, then the current marriage is okay (or can be made okay via convalidation). If any prior marriage is valid, then the potential convert cannot join the Church unless he or she leaves her current “spouse”.
 
Br. Dan:
I’m sorry to nitpick but I want to say again that a marriage does not have to be “sacramental” in order for a Catholic, convert spouse to receive Communion. A valid marriage? Yes. And, the Church says (in canon law) that marriage enjoys the favor of the law which means that all marriages, whether Catholic or not, are presumed to be valid. So, a priest wouldn’t really do much checking into the marriage of a person who is converting. Seeing a marriage license would be enough, it seems to me. But, I’ve only had one canon law course!
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“a priest wouldn’t really do much checking into the marriage of a person who is converting.”

Maybe a sloppy one who didn’t really care about what he was doing. For a Marriage to be Sacramental It must first be a valid Marriage. A valid Marriage is one where there is no issue of prior marriages and the persons followed the laws of their church for Marriage. Catholic Canon Law also states that any Valid Marriage between two (man and woman) people who are validly Baptized is also always a Sacramental Marriage.

It is true that all marriages are assumed to be valid unless shown to be otherwise. A civil Marriage license really has little value in the Church. A person could have a valid civil marriage license and the Marriage could still be invalid according to Catholic Canon Law.
 
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