Relative's invalid marriage-help

[scrupulousrvrt]

i’ll try to keep this short: a few months ago i attended a “civil union” of two baptised catholics (one of them is a relative) to keep contact open between me and the “newly-weds” should they eventually be open to coming back to the church. The problem arose when i returned to the church after a long absence and didn’t know what to do regarding minimalizing scandal and keeping them “open” to the catholic church. my confessor said it would be permissible without condoning this sacrilege (they probably didn’t even know they were commiting such a thing!) by saying “I wish you the best”. The confessor (who is my regular) told to pray so that they may eventually come around to having their marriage validated.
In short it was either
1)keep the doors open
2)run the risk of being “shunned” by my relatives and them hardening their hearts to the RCC
i’ve confessed this 2 times and i still can’t get relief from the anxiety

 

[katpants]

I think you are fine! It seems you feel a great conviction about it? You have talked with the priest so do not worry. Remember in the end God is love and we are to love others as he loved us.-

Kat

 

[ClearWater]

1. Keep the doors open.
   Let go of the anxiety. Be at peace.

 

[milikido]

I am curious as to why you are still feeling anxious. You have spoken to your priest and have followed his advice. Good, solid advice in my opinion. Unless you feel his advice is inaccurate? Set your anxiety aside and trust in your heart and faith that this may be part of your journey to bring the young couple back to God.

And also…is there such a thing as an* unbaptised* Catholic?

.

I believe the point the OP was making is that while they are baptised in the Catholic faith, they are not currently living the Catholic faith.

 

[St_Francis]

You did this according to the advice and counsel of a priest you trust. If (big if) there is any wrong in what you did, then it’s on his soul rather than yours.

However, this is the same advice I have heard from many different sources.

Sometimes the enemy tries to trip us up by sending these doubts our way. Treat them as you would temptations and pray for help resisting them!

And don’t forget to pray for your relatives!

 

[tee_eff_em]

i’ve confessed this 2 times and i still can’t get relief from the anxiety

Confessing anything once is sufficient.

As your own choice of username implies, I suggest you seek spiritual direction outside of confession to combat this and other manifestations of scrupulosity.

:twocents:
tee

 

[milikido]

Ah. Okay. So no real need to refer to people as “baptised” Catholics…because they would have had to be baptised in order to be Catholic…right?
.

I feel like I am hijaking this thread a bit, as this is an aside to the OP question.

I am looking at it from this point of view. My brother is a baptised Catholic, but if you were to ask him, he would say he is not Catholic. We must also remember that baptism is only the first sacrament. So, as an adult Catholic, yes we do need to have be baptised, but we also need to receive the remaining sacraments as well.

The OP doesn’t actually mention how this couple feel about the Catholic faith, but in saying they were baptised Catholics we can say they have at least had some exposure. I am guessing, they did not recieve any further sacraments, so this exposure may well have been minimal, or when they reached they age to receive them they chose not to. For me, by clarifying the sacrements they had received, gives us an idea of how much the Catholic faith has previously played in their life.