Should I need to convalidate my marriage?

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I called and left them a voice mail a few hours ago. Thank you for the feedback, and thank you to everyone else here as well. Its been really encouraging and helpful. My wife and I are really down but we’re still optimistic because of all of your comments. Thanks again.
 
I don’t have much to say but I’ve been following this thread and I’m praying things work out for you! Seems like a very difficult predicament, but I too think it’s worth fighting for.

I also pray that despite this difficult situation that you and your wife will be able to be confirmed in the Catholic Church!!

Please keep us updated!
 
I’m so sorry you are going through this. I asked my pastor, who is a canon lawyer and used to be the promoter of justice for our diocese and he said the same thing: that your marriage is valid.

He did say that many priests are confused about this, but he was shocked that a judicial vicar doesn’t understand it.
 
One way or the other, it looks like you will be a member of the other parish - the one where the RCIA class time conflicted. contact https://stjosephcanonlaw.com/, and after that, and armed with the parts of Canon law they provide and are noted in this thread, go speak to the pastor at the other parish.
 
He just received his degree in canon law so he’s brand new. Would your priest be willing to talk to mine? I asked to appeal to a promoter of justice and he said no because I “have no case.”
 
He just received his degree in canon law so he’s brand new.
Yeah, but this isn’t something that you only learn in the more advanced study of Canon Law. This is something you learn in your introductory class in it in the seminary. Every priest on the planet should know that you don’t need a convalidation.
 
yup. when I read dignitas connubii he got very frustrated like I was trying to use a gotcha.
 
Yeah, but this isn’t something that you only learn in the more advanced study of Canon Law. This is something you learn in your introductory class in it in the seminary. Every priest on the planet should know that you don’t need a convalidation.
Heck, this was something that was taught in our first “Advocate” training session.
 
I feel as though the deacon may have set him up to believe certain things about your situation and your “attitude” as perceived by the deacon & the RCIA director.

The Catholic Church believes in one baptism. It believes a valid baptism is one which is done with the correct matter in the correct form as your Baptist baptism did. Once you are baptised validly, your marriage became sacramental, a marriage between two baptised Christians with no impediments to marriage. This is not a difficult concept to grasp. I should be shocked the RCIA team doesn’t know this, but sadly I’m not.

I would still write a letter to your bishop outlining what you have been through during this process. He really needs to know what is happening in his diocese.
 
Yeah, but this isn’t something that you only learn in the more advanced study of Canon Law. This is something you learn in your introductory class in it in the seminary. Every priest on the planet should know that you don’t need a convalidation.
While I would agree with you, I would not put money on it.
 
I would still write a letter to your bishop outlining what you have been through during this process. He really needs to know what is happening in his diocese.
There is a presumption that bishops see all the letters which come to them. So the first presumption, that the bishop would see the letter is not on the most solid ground.

The second presumption might be that the bishop knows more Canon law than thos who serve under him; that is not a given either - although it might be a possibility; we do have some bishops who have the degree, though not many.

And the third presumption, if the second one is correct, is that the bishop will not seek the advice of his “authorities” in the tribunal/Canon law department - which gets us right back to square one, having opened the door to more inflicted damage.

Not sure I would want to go to the bishop on my own. If it were my battle, I would have employed the services of someone outside the chancery with a Canon law decree to write my letter, if for no other reason than that if I got stonewalled there, I would be prompting my lawyer to write to Rome.

One should never go into battle without sufficient preparation.

I suspect that it is likely, with the 17,000 +/- parishes in the US, that this specific set of facts is not going to be coming across most people’s screens all that often, and is going to encounter people (most likely pastors) who know enough to resolve the issue.

It appears that the deacon did not know the law; the deacon went to someone who appears to possibly be the shortstop between the judicial vicar and the parishes who told the deacon “No”; then Boho ended up the same individual who apparently said “NO!”.

When one walks into the lion’s den, one is needed to be armed with something more than a smile and a BB gun.

And no, I am not a pessimist.

I am a realist.
 
I’m not saying the OP should “go into battle” with this issue. I am saying the Bishop of this diocese needs to be aware his judicial vicar, a deacon and a RCIA director are giving wrong information. Clearly one does not have to have a degree or training in canon law to know this information. I took an advocate class many years ago and I know this basic fact. Many others on this thread who are not canon lawyers know this basic fact.

If a Bishop doesn’t know the basic of marriage validity, maybe he shouldn’t be a Bishop. I mean no disrespect, this is in the range of basic management 101. After all Bishops are priests and priests know generally what is & isn’t a valid marriage. Two validly baptized Christians with no impediments are in a valid marriage. It doesn’t matter when the baptisms happened, just that they did and they were Christian baptisms.
 
And I am not disagreeing with you that it would help the bishop to know how this case has been mishandled.

I am saying that Boho is not the person to do it.
 
Boho is the perfect person to do it. He is the one experiencing the situation. He can explain to the Bishop how discouraging it is for someone who wants to come home to the Catholic Church but is facing these type of road blocks by people in his diocese, people who should being doing everything they can to be welcoming to those who wish to join us.
 
Update: My sponsor and RCIA coordinator is on my side and fighting this with me. She will be leaving the parish for another one after this matter is resolved as well. Apparently the deacon has spoken with my pastor and will be taking over the RCIA program, effectively pushing her out of her role. She literally wrote the book they use, which is VERY good. They want to make the program easier and simpler but she refuses to “water down the faith” as she would put it. So that’s that.

Furthermore I’ve been in touch with St Joseph’s Canon Law. They sent me some forms to fill out and asked for all documentation that I could provide so I detailed the experience as concisely as I could and included emails, texts, etc in my response. Their response is that there’s no need for us to convalidate. In fact, even if my wife had been baptized as a Catholic vice protestant then we could do a radical sanation instead of the convalidation, which is sometimes the more pastoral approach. In our case though, its unwarranted. They’re helping me find ways to resolve the matter now.

I’ll keep you all updated.
 
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They’re helping me find ways to resolve the matter now.

I’ll keep you all updated.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I certainly hope they are able to assist, and again I feel like we should apologize on behalf of all jerky Catholics. (Sometimes I can be one of those, or so my forum posting history says… 🤬).

Keep us posted, and God bless you for standing up for your valid marriage!!
 
In itself, a convalidation says nothing about the prior validity of the marriage…
In a marriage where one or both parties are not validly baptized Christians, if one or both of the parties become Catholic, convalidation will be required.

Source: Coming Home Network - Do I Need Convalidation and/or Annulment? - The Coming Home Network
If the decision of Church authority becomes that your marriage does need a convalidation, then I would go through those steps and do it.

My wife and I had a good experience when we went through the convalidation process. We’ve been married twice each and both times to each other.
 
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