Questions to apologetics

[ginggingp]

when is the best time to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, on the first one, june 17th, civil or on the church wedding, oct 23rd?

how do i explain to my relative and her husband the necessity of a church wedding who keeps postponing it since they already had a civil marriage?

in addition to the above, is the child considered a bastard if a couple is not yet married in church? so, are they also not allowed to receive Holy Communion?

 

[MarcoPolo]

when is the best time to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, on the first one, june 17th, civil or on the church wedding, oct 23rd?

how do i explain to my relative and her husband the necessity of a church wedding who keeps postponing it since they already had a civil marriage?

in addition to the above, is the child considered a bastard if a couple is not yet married in church? so, are they also not allowed to receive Holy Communion?

A more versed member than I can hopefully confirm what I “believe” is correct here.

As to when you should celebrate the anniversary, I’d personally go with the Church wedding…but you could even do both…there’s no rule on that.

Your relatives should understand that in order to be in union with the Church, that they need to have this done. First they have to believe in the Church as Christ’s Church. If they agree, then they should want to have this done and have their marriage blessed in the eyes of God. It’s kind of like talking someone into going to confession…how pleased God will be with you afterward!

And finally, I believe that even non-Catholics can have a child baptized in the Catholic Church, so long as it is their will at the time of Baptism that the child be raised Catholic. Hopefully someone can confirm these last two.

 

[Seatuck]

in addition to the above, is the child considered a bastard if a couple is not yet married in church? so, are they also not allowed to receive Holy Communion?

No. Bastard is legal terminology . No child is a bastard in God’s eyes. Baptism might be denied to the child though if the parents show no sign of raising the child Catholic.

This couple may not receive communion until they are in union with the church and get their marriage blessed.

Anniversary is entirely about preference.

With regard to your relatives this depends on whether they are Catholic or not.If they are you may want to go to the home page of Catholic Answers and also the Catechism and read up on the Sacrament of marriage.You can print it out and give it to them or discuss it. You can tell of your experience and if you feel a difference in your marriage after having it blessed.

 

[puzzleannie]

in addition to the above, is the child considered a bastard if a couple is not yet married in church? so, are they also not allowed to receive Holy Communion?

your questions have been addressed many times and if you search the Liturgy and Sacraments forum under marriage, convalidation or annulment you will find many helpful discussions

No, the status of the parents marriage does not affect the canonical status of the child, and the child may not be denied the sacraments because the parents are not married. However, in the judgment of the pastor, baptism for an infant may be delayed if the parents do not give evidence of intent to raise the child in the Catholic faith. An intransigent attitude toward Catholic Church laws on marriage might very well give him reason to doubt their intentions regarding their infant. the term bastard is not a canon law term, and illegitimacy is a term for civil law, and has no bearing here.

 

[Malcolm_McLean]

when is the best time to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, on the first one, june 17th, civil or on the church wedding, oct 23rd?

how do i explain to my relative and her husband the necessity of a church wedding who keeps postponing it since they already had a civil marriage?

in addition to the above, is the child considered a bastard if a couple is not yet married in church? so, are they also not allowed to receive Holy Communion?

Really the insistence on a Church wedding is more about the relationship between the Church and the State than about the couple themselves.

Marriage is administered by the couple to each other, so if they make solemn vows to each other, intending to marry, those are binding. A couple marreid outside of Church are not single.
However the Church can legitimately ask whether, by rejecting the church marriage, they intend to exclude God from their relationship. The main problem, however, is that recognising such marriages puts too much temptation in the way of the State, which might start declaring who is and who is not allowed to marry, or even redefine the institution. So the Church comes down on it and demands that the couple go through various procedures to regularise their union.

However contracting a secular marriage is in no way comparable to fornication.