What constitutes a Christian wedding?

[damooster]

If a baptized man and woman get married by a Christian Reverend, but during a civil ceremony (the Reverend was asked to officiate the wedding on behalf of a Justice of the Peace office in the Philippines), does this still constitute a Christian wedding in the eyes of the Catholic Church in regards to validity reasons?

I know this is a strange question, but I’ve been asked by a friend…sort of a hypothetical.

 

[Phemie]

If a baptized man and woman get married by a Christian Reverend, but during a civil ceremony (the Reverend was asked to officiate the wedding on behalf of a Justice of the Peace office in the Philippines), does this still constitute a Christian wedding in the eyes of the Catholic Church in regards to validity reasons?

I know this is a strange question, but I’ve been asked by a friend…sort of a hypothetical.

We need one more fact to be able to answer. The couple is baptized but are they (one or both) Catholic?

If neither is Catholic, the Catholic Church considers the marriage valid regardless of who the officiant is because non-Catholics are not bound by the Catholic Church’s laws. It also considers their marriage a sacrament because they are both baptized and it’s Baptism that determines whether a marriage is sacramental or not.

If even one is Catholic, the marriage would not be valid unless they had a dispensation from Canonical Form from their bishop.

 

[damooster]

Thanks. So since both are Catholic, they need to have their marriage convalidated?

 

[Phemie]

Thanks. So since both are Catholic, they need to have their marriage convalidated?

Without more info I’d say ‘yes’.

 

[1ke]

Thanks. So since both are Catholic, they need to have their marriage convalidated?

When two Catholics marry each other it is not possible for them to be dispensed from Catholic form. They are obligated to marry in the Catholic form before a priest (or deacon) and two witnesses after completing Catholic premarital preparation.

So, this civil marriage is not valid and requires convalidation.

 

[Phemie]

When two Catholics marry each other it is not possible for them to be dispensed from Catholic form. They are obligated to marry in the Catholic form before a priest (or deacon) and two witnesses after completing Catholic premarital preparation.

So, this civil marriage is not valid and requires convalidation.

Since it’s in the ‘hypothetical’ realm, we’d have to know if this ‘Christian Reverend’ is a priest, if a priest would ever celebrate a strictly civil wedding, if a Church wedding in the Philippines is, like in Canada and the US, also a civil marriage, or if it’s like Germany and France, where two ceremonies are required.

 

[4Squarebaby]

Since it’s in the ‘hypothetical’ realm, we’d have to know if this ‘Christian Reverend’ is a priest, if a priest would ever celebrate a strictly civil wedding, if a Church wedding in the Philippines is, like in Canada and the US, also a civil marriage, or if it’s like Germany and France, where two ceremonies are required.

It is different then the US in that one member of the wedding party must be a member of the officiant’s denomination if a religious deputy is used. It is the grounds the President’s sister is using to civilly annul her marriage now. However if the minister was also a justice of the peace and just happened to wear a cross I believe the judges will choose to call him a civil authority in this specific case and not a clergyman who is licensed by the state as US states do.