Sacramental Marriage

[richvank]

Hi everyone. My wife and I were married in a Wesleyan Church. At the time I was away from the Catholic church. As it stands today, I am a baptized, confirmed Catholic in good standing, but my wife was baptized in the Catholic church but never went any further. She is coming to mass with me and even taking doctrinal classes at our parish. It’s in the middle of the year, so she is not in RCIA yet.
My question is, if we were to renew our vows and seek a sacramental marriage, is her baptism enough, or should we wait for her to go through RCIA and be confirmed first?

Thanks
Rich

 

[1ke]

You are both baptized Catholics. As such you were both bound by Catholic law on marriage. Therefore, your marriage needs to be convalidated-- which typically involves the exchange of consent in Catholic form.

Typically, a Catholic should be confirmed before marriage. But the pastor has discretion in that.

You should make an appointment with your pastor as soon as possible to discuss simple convalidation or radical sanation of your marriage. The difference is that one requires new consent, the other does not.

 

[Elizium23]

It should be clarified that what you are seeking is a valid marriage. This marriage will of course be sacramental because you are both baptized, but if your wife were unbaptized, then you would be seeking a valid, natural marriage. Sacramental or natural is a secondary consideration when the key element is validity, which you currently lack.