Should I even consider dating a guy from another denomination?

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dlobrien

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Is it ok to date somebody from another denomination of Christianity? I know I won’t ever convert from Catholicism.
 
It can be difficult, but, it can work.

My father was Catholic, and my mother Presbyterian, and they were married 52 years.

Anything worthwhile is worth working for.
 
I don’t think there is anything wrong with going on a date with someone from another Christian denomination. If you do choose to get married, I think this is something you should have a frank and honest discussion about before committing.
 
+1 with the above. Things to consider include how serious this relationship will be, how you expect him to honor your obligation to raise your children Catholic, whether you will attend Mass together, etc…
 
LiberalPrincess said:
I don’t think there is anything wrong with going on a date with someone from another Christian denomination. If you do choose to get married, I think this is something you should have a frank and honest discussion about before committing.
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My daughter had a discussion of this type with a young man who is Baptist. She simply asked, if we were married and had children, would you allow them to be baptized as infants. He said no. They are now just good friends.

I think it depends on the communions involved. I have a childhood friend whose mom was Lutheran and dad was Catholic. They worked it out quite well. But it has to be worked out ahead of time.

Jon
 
JonNC said:
My daughter had a discussion of this type with a young man who is Baptist. She simply asked, if we were married and had children, would you allow them to be baptized as infants. He said no. They are now just good friends.

I think it depends on the communions involved. I have a childhood friend whose mom was Lutheran and dad was Catholic. They worked it out quite well. But it has to be worked out ahead of time.

Jon
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The Catholic Church is NOT a denomination. There were no denominations until the Protestant revolt. The Catholic Church was the only church for the first 1500 years of Christendom
 
LegoGE1947 said:
The Catholic Church is NOT a denomination. There were no denominations until the Protestant revolt. The Catholic Church was the only church for the first 1500 years of Christendom
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Though quite off the topic, where did I use the term denomination?

Jon
 
My wife dated someone that was non-Catholic (and pretty much non-anything at the time), and he became Catholic.

She even attended RCIA with him, even though she was raised in the Catholic Church.

I thank God for that every day.🙂
 
Michael57 said:
My wife dated someone that was non-Catholic (and pretty much non-anything at the time), and he became Catholic.

She even attended RCIA with him, even though she was raised in the Catholic Church.

I thank God for that every day.🙂
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Sounds like your wife was/is a blessing to this person. 😉

Jon
 
My wife is a non-Catholic Christian. We married this past December and recently she has decided that she wants to join the Church, but she’s a nervous wreck when thinking about what her parents (and some of our friends) would think. But she’s made the decision of her own conviction. Not everyone gets that in this type of situation. And dating someone from a non-Catholic Christian denomination is tough and takes a lot of commitment to make it work.
 
My mom and dad were married in the Catholic Church in 1956, Mom is Baptist and never converted. My siblings and I were raised as Catholics. We did attend her church once in awhile only after attending Mass first. They were married almost 50 yrs when my dad passed away in May of 2006.
 
I think it’s easier to date within the faith for several reasons.

Okay, say you get serious and want to get married. He will have his faith. You will have yours. So, you will each be going and worshipping in different churches, instead of together. You are not really even supposed to be going to other churches, for the most part.

Then, it depends on the church he’s from. A LOT of other faiths are VERY anti-Catholic. This may not come out immediately, but over time, I think it would.

Further, if you have children, that is where the differences in faith would become really highlighted. Even if he agrees to allow you to raise your children in your faith, it still is a bad example to your child to see your family going in separate directions every Sunday.

Lastly, you will find that the Catholic faith has a lot of differences and nuances other faiths often don’t have. What if you wanted to use Natural Family Planning? Would he be amenable? Many non-Catholics, and even some Catholics, are not.

What if you want to allow God to decide the size of your family and he doesn’t?

Would he be okay with your putting up crucifixes, religious statues in the house were you ever to marry? Many faiths are NOT okay with that.

Would he be willing to go with you to precana marriage preparation?

Marriage is hard enough. It’s helpful to be on the same page at least on the key issues, one of which is your faith.
 
I became a Catholic in my mid-20s. The priest who taught me gave me this bit of dating advice: Every marriage starts with a first date. Not knowing the future, it is impossible to say that the first date won’t end in marriage.

So if you’re comfortable about marrying someone who does not share your faith, go ahead and date non-Catholics. But from my own experience, it was our shared faith that has helped my husband and me over the rough spots.

In every marriage there will be rough spots!
 
I believe it’s much better to marry another Catholic. Honestly, the idea of marrying a non-Catholic outright scares me, but that’s because I’m completely alone in the faith right now and the last thing I need is marrying somebody that is estranged from my faith on top of it.

Yeah, there’s always going to be legions of people willing to flock to the podium and talk about their anecdotal experiences. About a person that married a non-Catholic and had a great marriage. About a person that married a devout Catholic and had their marriage fall apart. At the end of the day, having somebody that shares your faith is always better than having somebody that doesn’t share your faith, just as long as you see that they have a living faith. I suppose I would still much rather marry a devout evangelical woman than an apathetic Catholic, and then begin using my phenomenal manly charisma and suave to sway her into the fold, but seeing as how there are over a billion Catholic in the world, I don’t see why I would ever be stuck with such a choice.
 
dlobrien said:
Is it ok to date somebody from another denomination of Christianity? I know I won’t ever convert from Catholicism.
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Nah, we Catholic men need our Catholic wives to helps us get through life 😃
 
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