Validity of Marriage - Now What?

[Shalom44]

How about this situation. Wife was baptized in the Presbyterian Church though raised and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. Husband was baptized and confirmed in Catholic Church. At time of marriage, wife was actively practicing faith in the Episcopal Church. Because the husband was not active in his Catholic faith (nor was his family) and was unaware of the need to ask for dispensation(didn’t know what he didn’t know), the couple married in the Episcopal Church. Subsequently, the husband went through instruction and was received into the Episcopal Church. Twenty years later, after being actively involved in the Episcopal Church, the couple, both husband and wife, feel called to covert and, in the husband’s case “come home”, to the Catholic Faith. The couple meets with their Catholic pastor, who advises the husband to attend reconciliation and then welcomes the husband back to The Church. The wife is also received into the Catholic Faith. At that time, the priest tells the couple that, if they wanted at some point, they could have their marriage blessed by The Church, more or less implying that this was optional/not required (at least that was the couples honest impression). Almost 8 years later, and 30 years into their marriage, the couple begins to wonder about the validity of their marriage in the eyes of The Church, and approach the Priest about having a Convalidation Ceremony. The priest agrees and after paperwork is completed a date for the Ceremony is set. Should the marriage been Convalidated before the wife converted to Catholicism? Have the couple been living in sin due to an invalid marriage for the past 8 years, 30 years? Yes, they have been receiving Holy Communion and as well have been sexually intimate with each other through out their marriage. Once they go to Reconciliation and have their marriage Convalidated, will they and their marriage be right in the eyes of The Church? Both husband and wife are practicing their faith - attend Mass weekly, attend a reconciliation, are active in Parish Ministries and bible studies. Both feel in their heart with deep conviction that they want and need to do the right thing.

 

[Phemie]

No amount of what ifs and should haves on this forum is going to change what happened. Suffice it to say that the the first thing about a sin is that you have to know it’s a sin to be culpable.

Now they are dealing with a priest and getting their marriage convalidated. They simply need to follow his advice.

 

[Iron_Donkey]

Shalom44:

Once they go to Reconciliation and have their marriage Convalidated, will they and their marriage be right in the eyes of The Church?

Yes, absolutely.

To all the other stuff - it sounds like there was enough ignorance (some as a result of what was probably bad advice, or at least misunderstood advice) that it is likely that no mortal sin was involved in the marriage prior to this point; however, even if there was any, reconciliation will fix that.

As Phemie said, continuing to work through this with the priest is the best way to go, and should end up with everything fixed.

 

[SuperLuigi]

No amount of what ifs and should haves on this forum is going to change what happened. Suffice it to say that the the first thing about a sin is that you have to know it’s a sin to be culpable.

Now they are dealing with a priest and getting their marriage convalidated. They simply need to follow his advice.

:yup:

 

[Shalom44]

Thank you Phemie and Iron Donkey. Your responses are encouraging and help lift a great burden. One would think that Jesus’ love and mercy would prevail in situations such as these. I’m guessing that would be Pope Francis’ view on the matter as well!

 

[PaulfromIowa]

People are only responsible for what they knew to be a sin. Yes, the marriage should have been convalidated back when the husband returned to the Catholic Church. It is not their responsibility if they did not know this or the priest did not advise them of this.

Have the marriage blessed the Church.

 

[runningdude]

Paragraphs!!!

How about this situation. Wife was baptized in the Presbyterian Church though raised and confirmed in the Episcopal Church. Husband was baptized and confirmed in Catholic Church. At time of marriage, wife was actively practicing faith in the Episcopal Church. Because the husband was not active in his Catholic faith (nor was his family) and was unaware of the need to ask for dispensation(didn’t know what he didn’t know), the couple married in the Episcopal Church. Subsequently, the husband went through instruction and was received into the Episcopal Church.

Twenty years later, after being actively involved in the Episcopal Church, the couple, both husband and wife, feel called to covert and, in the husband’s case “come home”, to the Catholic Faith. The couple meets with their Catholic pastor, who advises the husband to attend reconciliation and then welcomes the husband back to The Church.

The wife is also received into the Catholic Faith. At that time, the priest tells the couple that, if they wanted at some point, they could have their marriage blessed by The Church, more or less implying that this was optional/not required (at least that was the couples honest impression).

The wife should not have been allowed to convert, with only rare exceptions.

Almost 8 years later, and 30 years into their marriage, the couple begins to wonder about the validity of their marriage in the eyes of The Church, and approach the Priest about having a Convalidation Ceremony. The priest agrees and after paperwork is completed a date for the Ceremony is set. Should the marriage been Convalidated before the wife converted to Catholicism?

Have the couple been living in sin due to an invalid marriage for the past 8 years, 30 years? Yes, they have been receiving Holy Communion and as well have been sexually intimate with each other through out their marriage.

Technically, yes. However, the extremely poor advice and counsel provided by their priest would likely render there personal culpability for cohabiting to a minimum.

Once they go to Reconciliation and have their marriage Convalidated, will they and their marriage be right in the eyes of The Church? Both husband and wife are practicing their faith - attend Mass weekly, attend a reconciliation, are active in Parish Ministries and bible studies. Both feel in their heart with deep conviction that they want and need to do the right thing.

Yes, their predicament would be fully resolved through convalidation and reconciliation. The situation would not have been entirely of their own making, and they would bear very little blame for not having gone through the convalidation sooner.