Samatio in radice - any info helpful

  • Thread starter Thread starter MommyM
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

MommyM

Guest
Hi,

I’m looking for some information about “Samatio in radice” or “healing at the root/heart” which is a blessing or validation of a marraige that was outside the Catholic church, and which does not require the participation of both spouses.

I found one other post on this site, but it didn’t fully pertain to my situation. Can you help?

I was baptized a Catholic, went through confession and received first communion - but I was never confirmed. My family became Pentacostal, and I remained in that church until about age 17 when I became angry, confused and felt that my behavior/thoughts were false practices. I have considered myself to be either Agnostic or Protestant until about a year ago (I am now 34.)

I am now going through Confirmation classes, and would like to be confimed in the new year.

In 1995 my husband and I married in a Church of God Chapel at my college. However we were married by one of my college professors who is an ordained minister - but I don’t know really if my marriage would be considered a civil marriage or a Christian marriage - and does it matter when attempting to have my marriage validated by the Catholic church?

The big question is will I qualify for “Samatio in radice?” My husband is 100% unwilling to participate in Convalidation - he says it goes against his values - to be required to say his vows again, so that the Catholic church can say our marriage is valid. My husband is a man of his principles, and is very stubborn - there will be no changing of his mind, unless he decides that he wants to be a Catholic. BTW - He has the same background as myself, he was baptized, went to confession and had first communion, but his family left the church before he could be confirmed.

This is both our first and only marriage. My husband is willing to bring up our two boys in the Catholic church - in that he will come to church on Sunday with us, will allow his children to be baptized and eventually confirmed.

I have no family other than my maternal Grandparents who are practicing Catholics. So I emailed them, when I learned that my marriage had to be convalidated for me to be confirmed, and I talked with Dh and he refused to participation in it. My Grandpa talked to his pastor, and that Father told him about the “Samatio in radice” - I’m just nervous about meeting my pastor for the first time and asking about this process.

Anyhoo - I hope I gave you all the needed info. and someone can help me out.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

MommyM
 
Hello, and welcome home!

Within the past few weeks, I just received a Sanatio In Radice. I understand how difficult it can be to want to be “right” with the Church and have a spouse who doesn’t want to “go along” with a convalidation. May God be with you and your husband.

In brief, a sanatio is, more or less, a retro-active dispensation. To effect this “sanctification to the root”, a special apostolic faculty is required (which means the Pope or certain Bishops). This would be the option to take if one person was completely unwilling to renew their vows.

You can read more about it here.

To address your specific situation, it would be helpful to know if you actually joined the Pentacostal church. If you did, by virtue of the act you were no longer Catholic. By joining another church, you renounced your faith in the Catholic Church. If this is the case, your marriage should be perfectly valid. The Church recognizes Protestant marriages as valid (JoP, CoG, Non-Denom, or even muslim! See: Natural Law), so there is no need for you to proceed with a dispensation of any kind. Go in the Peace of Christ.

If you did not officially join the Pentacostal (or any other) church, you would need the sanatio, as you are and have always been bound by Canon Law. What will be required of you (or at least what was required of me) is to produce 4 affidavits from family/friends (who have known you for > 5 yrs), two from each would-be-spouse, stating that neither of you were married before and that you are both baptized. You will also need documentation of your Catholic baptism, dated within the last two months (so find the parish and write/call now). Finally, you will need to give the priest some assurance that you intend to raise your children Catholic. This can be as simple (I think) as you saying that you are fully committed to this and your spouse isn’t 100% opposed. Your parish priest should be able to tell you.

If you provide further details, I will try to be of more help.

You might want to do a quick member search for “RyanL’s Wife”. My wife has written a little bit about this in her few posts, and it may help give you insight to your husband’s line of thought. It may also give you some good advice for how to approach him with your faith.

Also, feel free to PM me.

May God bless you and keep you,
RyanL
 
40.png
MommyM:
Hi,

I’m looking for some information about “Samatio in radice” or “healing at the root/heart” which is a blessing or validation of a marraige that was outside the Catholic church, and which does not require the participation of both spouses.

I found one other post on this site, but it didn’t fully pertain to my situation. Can you help?

I was baptized a Catholic, went through confession and received first communion - but I was never confirmed. My family became Pentacostal, and I remained in that church until about age 17 when I became angry, confused and felt that my behavior/thoughts were false practices. I have considered myself to be either Agnostic or Protestant until about a year ago (I am now 34.)

I am now going through Confirmation classes, and would like to be confimed in the new year.

In 1995 my husband and I married in a Church of God Chapel at my college. However we were married by one of my college professors who is an ordained minister - but I don’t know really if my marriage would be considered a civil marriage or a Christian marriage - and does it matter when attempting to have my marriage validated by the Catholic church?

The big question is will I qualify for “Samatio in radice?” My husband is 100% unwilling to participate in Convalidation - he says it goes against his values - to be required to say his vows again, so that the Catholic church can say our marriage is valid. My husband is a man of his principles, and is very stubborn - there will be no changing of his mind, unless he decides that he wants to be a Catholic. BTW - He has the same background as myself, he was baptized, went to confession and had first communion, but his family left the church before he could be confirmed.

This is both our first and only marriage. My husband is willing to bring up our two boys in the Catholic church - in that he will come to church on Sunday with us, will allow his children to be baptized and eventually confirmed.

I have no family other than my maternal Grandparents who are practicing Catholics. So I emailed them, when I learned that my marriage had to be convalidated for me to be confirmed, and I talked with Dh and he refused to participation in it. My Grandpa talked to his pastor, and that Father told him about the “Samatio in radice” - I’m just nervous about meeting my pastor for the first time and asking about this process.

Anyhoo - I hope I gave you all the needed info. and someone can help me out.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

MommyM
Click to expand...
It seems strange that he would not consider “Renewing” his vows. Depending on if both of you were really still Catholic, non-practicing Catholic or had actually joined another Christian Community at the time would determine what needs to be done, including nothing. Radical Sanation is where in simple terms the Bishop grants the dispensation to Marry in another church without a Catholic priest present that should have been obtained ten years ago.
 
Thanks so much for your helpful information and support. 🙂 It really helps to hear that this isn’t unusual and there are ways of getting my marriage validated by the church that doesn’t require my Dh’s participation.

I did read your wife’s posts RyanL - I too very much respect my husband’s belief’s, and I understand why he is unwilling to actively participate in religious practices that he doesn’t want to commit to yet. (Hopefully someday 🙂 )

My husband and I both left the Catholic church in our youth, and in our teenage years became “confirmed” in the Pentacostal church - we both were baptized as adults, accepted Christ as Savior, confessed our sins, took communion and asked the Holy Spirit into our hearts. So yes, when we married we were non-Catholic, we were Pentacostal, but we were married in a Church of God chapel, with my college professor (who was a minister of some Christian faith, but I don’t know what he practiced) and we were not attending any church at the time. Confused yet? 🙂

When Dh and I talked about it a couple days ago, we both agree that we did consider ourselves Christian at the time we married. However, we were young and disallusioned with the Pentacostal church and against “organized religion.”

I’m just going to lay it all out for our Pastor - and I feel a lot more confident going to him, after I have talked with my Grandparents and read your responses. I was really scared, because I had been initially told that engaging in intimacy with my husband when we were not married in the Catholic church = a mortal sin. And I was told that Dh & I had to have a ceremony where we had our vows “validated” by the church. When I told Dh about this, he was adamately against this ceremony, and I cried and cried.

Thanks again for your help - I was actually on the edge of walking away from the church, feeling that I was rejected. I really appreciate your words and support. 🙂

MommyM
 
40.png
MommyM:
My husband and I both left the Catholic church in our youth, and in our teenage years became “confirmed” in the Pentacostal church - we both were baptized as adults, accepted Christ as Savior, confessed our sins, took communion and asked the Holy Spirit into our hearts. So yes, when we married we were non-Catholic, we were Pentacostal, but we were married in a Church of God chapel,
MommyM
Click to expand...
this will not be resolved in this forum, you must “lay it all out” for your pastor, including the issue of intimacy. That is not for us, your relatives or anyone else to comment or advise. From what you say here it would seem you both formally severed ties with the Catholic Church and therefore your marriage is valid (assuming no other previous marriages for either of you. It would become sacramental when you both return to the Catholic Church, which will entail Confirmation, profession of faith, Eucharist (preceded by a general confession of all sins of your past life). Welcome home. However my opinion is worthless, as is the opinion of your grandparents or anyone else other than your bishop, given through the means set up to answer such marriage questions.

I cannot stress enough that every marriage is unique and considered valid until proven otherwise. That should reassure your husband, to know the Catholic Church has the same respect for marriage that he does. The purpose of the formal investigation by the marriage tribunal, in problematic cases, is that the only way for all the facts to become known is such an investigation. In over 10 years experience interviewing people for RCIA never, ever has the case as originally described turned out to be the whole story.
 
40.png
RyanL:
To effect this “sanctification to the root”, a special apostolic faculty is required (which means the Pope or certain Bishops). This would be the option to take if one person was completely unwilling to renew their vows.

You can read more about it here.
Click to expand...
The Catholic Encyclopedia article is almost 100 years old, and is out-of-date in certain respects. In particular, special apostolic faculty is no longer required. (Vatican II made it clear that the authority of bishops comes directly from Christ, and is not delegated from the Pope.)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top