Wedding Chapel

[mrsjackson]

My husband and I stood up in a wedding in a Wedding Chapel after being told that the person performing the ceremony was a Catholic Priest. Clearly he was not. I understand that a person working at the chapel told the bride that the ceremony was recognized by the Catholic Church.
And the bride was told by a person that schedules weddings at the Catholic Church where the groom is a member that neither she nor the groom needed to get an annulment to take part in future Masses and receive communion. This is the second marriage for the bride, and the third for the groom and neither were married in a Catholic Church in their prier marriages or the marriage to each other.
My question is, does one need to get an annulment if they weren’t married in the Catholic Church?
Thank you.

 

[Jim_Blackburn]

The Church generally requires that all prior attempts at marriage, whether inside or outside the Church, be annulled prior to a subsequent marriage attempt. Additionally, a Catholic must receive permission to validly marry outside the Church.

Concerning Mass and the Eucharist, those who remarry invalidly may attend Mass but may not receive the Eucharist. The Catechism states, “If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God’s law. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists… Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented for having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete continence” (CCC 1650).