Question Regarding A Convert's Status in RCIA

[pls1721]

Hello,

We have some lovely married friends. Theirs is a second marriage for him and a first marriage for her. They were married in a civil ceremony.

He was raised in the Latin Rite but entered into a first marriage to a Greek Orthodox woman without any dispensation of any kind from the Catholic Church. He says GO church never asked him for one and he didn’t know he needed anything from the Catholic Church. He and his first wife had a civil divorce.

She is not baptised.

They married in a civil ceremony.

They have had a conversion of heart and life and he is returning to the Church and she is starting RCIA.

Prior to starting RCIA they informed the priest and the person running RCIA that he was previously married.

The RCIA is a mess and apparently his first marriage was “forgotten”.

Now, several months into RCIA (such as it is) she is being told that she cannot proceed with RCIA because of her husband being divorced.

They have never encountered anything like this, they say, and need to do all kinds of investigation.

Please, would someone tell me what her husband’s being divorced have to do with her ability to move forward with RCIA?

Many thanks.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Please, would someone tell me what her husband’s being divorced have to do with her ability to move forward with RCIA?

Many thanks.

Someone cannot receive the sacraments when they are in an invalid marriage.

The man was previously married. The Church believes that when someone makes vows “til death do us part,” that it means something. On the surface, at least, he is still married to his first wife.

I say “on the surface,” because it is possible that his first marriage was not valid. One possibility is that since he received no permission to marry outside the Church, his first marriage was not recognized. This is called a lack of form and if it applies, it should be able to be dealt with quickly and won’t derail things at all as far as RCIA goes. I don’t know if it applies to a Catholic-Orthodox marriage.

If the Orthodox marriage was recognized by the Catholic Church, then he would need to seek a declaration of nullity (often called an annulment). This is a longer process and there’s no promise that the first marriage would be found null.

Either way – lack of form or declaration of nullity – once he is found free to marry, the couple can convalidate their marriage (sometimes called “having the marriage blessed”) and then the wife can receive her sacraments of initiation.

This kind of thing is a common issue for people in RCIA, unfortunately.

 

[jmcrae]

Hello,

We have some lovely married friends. Theirs is a second marriage for him and a first marriage for her. They were married in a civil ceremony.

He was raised in the Latin Rite but entered into a first marriage to a Greek Orthodox woman without any dispensation of any kind from the Catholic Church. He says GO church never asked him for one and he didn’t know he needed anything from the Catholic Church. He and his first wife had a civil divorce.

She is not baptised.

They married in a civil ceremony.

They have had a conversion of heart and life and he is returning to the Church and she is starting RCIA.

Prior to starting RCIA they informed the priest and the person running RCIA that he was previously married.

The RCIA is a mess and apparently his first marriage was “forgotten”.

Now, several months into RCIA (such as it is) she is being told that she cannot proceed with RCIA because of her husband being divorced.

They have never encountered anything like this, they say, and need to do all kinds of investigation.

Please, would someone tell me what her husband’s being divorced have to do with her ability to move forward with RCIA?

Many thanks.

A married person in RCIA has to be in a valid marriage before he or she can proceed to the Rite of Acceptance to begin the Period of Catechesis. I assume this is what she wants to do.

In order for their marriage to be recognized as a valid marriage in the Catholic Church, it has to be the first marriage for both of them (which means that any previous marriages need to have been found “null” by means of a Declaration of Nullity) and if there is a Catholic party to the marriage, then the wedding has to have taken place in a Catholic Church.

In your friend’s case, what this means is that her husband has to apply for a Declaration of Nullity for his first marriage. Once he has received that, then they need to get married in the Catholic Church.

What they both need to do is get with their pastor today or as soon as possible to make a plan, and then they need to act on the plan quickly. My advice to people in this situation is, never let any piece of paper stay in your house overnight - receive it in the morning mail, fill it out, and send it out in the afternoon mail of the same day, or better yet drive it to the Tribunal office and deliver it by hand. Move heaven and earth to get to your appointments with the priest and/or members of the Tribunal; don’t cancel or delay them for any reason.

Even so, you could still be looking at weeks or months to get this done. The shortest I ever saw was five weeks, and it was because they did exactly as I have said here, and they had a priest who was also quick on his feet, and sometimes even agreed to meet them at night after their RCIA classes to do discernment with them, to speed up the process.

The RCIA is a mess and apparently his first marriage was “forgotten”.

Is he an adult? It is not the RCIA’s responsibility to babysit him. He should have followed up straight away and asked the priest what steps he needs to take to rectify his situation. However, what’s done is done - they need to get going on it now.

 

[Ubenedictus]

This is a bit tough, if the first marriage is by two validly baptised christians (as it seem in this case), then there is a very good chance that the first marriage will be decleared valid. Well they will not know untill they have petition to annul the first marriage!

 

[1ke]

I don’t know if it applies to a Catholic-Orthodox marriage.

It does not apply in the case of a Catholic marrying an Orthodox. Form goes to liceity only, not validity (see Canon 1127).

The OP’s husband needs to go see his priest and ensure someone at the tribunal familiar with the nuances of Catholic-Orthodox marriages be involved in the case. Yes, it will likely need to be a full tribunal case unless his first wife also had a prior marriage.

The couple needs to make an appointment with their priest ASAP.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

It does not apply in the case of a Catholic marrying an Orthodox. Form goes to liceity only, not validity (see Canon 1127).

Thanks.

As soon as I hear the word “Orthodox” in terms of RCIA, my first reaction is to say “this is above my pay grade” because it may well be an exception to what I otherwise know.

 

[pls1721]

Thank you so much for your replies, all of which are very helpful. What I was unclear about was the effect of this couple having been married in a civil union and not in any church of any denomination. Again, thank you so much.

Just for some clarity, yes, the husband is an adult and no, he did not expect anyone to babysit him. He came forward and spoke to both the priest and the RCIA director prior to his wife beginning RCiA (months prior) and the priest said he would get back to them if there was a problem. Neither the priest nor the RCIA director got back to the couple and the wife began RCIA.

Now, 3 months into a very spotty, disorganized RCIA in which the wife has had no sponsor to help her navigate and learn because the RCIA director doesn’t think sponsors are necessary (wherein the wife has openly and repeatedly mentioned her husband’s first marriage) the director has suddenly comprehended after one sit-down meeting with the priest and months of the current wife discussing the husband’s first marriage) that there is an issue.

It is an unfortunate situation that had basic appropriate oversight been followed through on it would have spared this woman alot of pain and humiliation.

Thanks so much.

 

[jmcrae]

Thank you so much for your replies, all of which are very helpful. What I was unclear about was the effect of this couple having been married in a civil union and not in any church of any denomination. Again, thank you so much.

Just for some clarity, yes, the husband is an adult and no, he did not expect anyone to babysit him. He came forward and spoke to both the priest and the RCIA director prior to his wife beginning RCiA (months prior) and the priest said he would get back to them if there was a problem. Neither the priest nor the RCIA director got back to the couple and the wife began RCIA.

This is unfortunate - there is little point going over what should have happened, though; now that he knows it’s a problem, they need to get going on this as soon as possible.

Now, 3 months into a very spotty, disorganized RCIA in which the wife has had no sponsor to help her navigate and learn because the RCIA director doesn’t think sponsors are necessary (wherein the wife has openly and repeatedly mentioned her husband’s first marriage) the director has suddenly comprehended after one sit-down meeting with the priest and months of the current wife discussing the husband’s first marriage) that there is an issue.

I can see that you’re frustrated. Is there any reason you can’t help out? Since clearly the current volunteers are overwhelmed. Perhaps you could offer to be the coordinator of sponsors, and set up the advertising to get people to come and be sponsors for the candidates.