When is a Non-Catholic Marriage considered as Sacramental by Catholics?

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AgnosTheist

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Marriage among protestants.

Marriage among Muslims.

Marriage among Hindus.

Marriage among Atheists.

When is a Non-Catholic Marriage considered as Sacramental by Catholics?
 
As I understand it, any marriage between non-Catholics is considered sacramental. It is when one or both parties have been baptised Catholic and marry outside of the church that problems with the sacrament arise.

As an example, my civil marriage to my husband is considered sacramental because neither of us were baptised Catholic.
 
In order to be sacramental a marriage must be between Christians. This would include a marriage between two Catholics, two Protestants, or a Catholic and a Protestant.

Non-baptized people can enter into a valid marriage, but it is not sacramental.
 
ibkc said:
As I understand it, any marriage between non-Catholics is considered sacramental. It is when one or both parties have been baptised Catholic and marry outside of the church that problems with the sacrament arise.
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Actually, if a Catholic marries outside the church without receiving permission there isn’t an issue of it being a sacrament, there is an issue of it being invalid. As far as the Church is concerned, there is no marriage.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
Actually, if a Catholic marries outside the church without receiving permission there isn’t an issue of it being a sacrament, there is an issue of it being invalid. As far as the Church is concerned, there is no marriage.
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Brutal. 😃

If there is no marriage, is it fornication?
 
AgnosTheist said:
Brutal. 😃

If there is no marriage, is it fornication?
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Essentially yes. This is why Catholics must have their marriages convalidated (made valid) in order to receive the sacraments.
AgnosTheist said:
Non-Sacramental means not approved by God?
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No. A non-sacramental marriage (e.g., between two Jews) is (I assume) approved by God. However, a marriage between two Christians has an additional – sacramental, grace-filled – effect. Through their marriage the couple is receiving grace and entering into the divine life of God.

The best analogy I can think of at the moment is that Thanksgiving dinner is a wonderful meal and a chance for family to come together. It’s a good thing. But the Eucharist, in addition to being a meal, is grace filled and an opportunity to participate in the divine life of God.
 
^ How does grace benefit the couple? How are they better off than a happily married jewish couple?
 
I was going to put in what the Catechism says about grace, but it’s probably best for you to read it yourself. See this section on grace and sanctification.

If I were getting married, I would want God’s grace to be a part of it.
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
See this section on grace and sanctification.

If I were getting married, I would want God’s grace to be a part of it.
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thats a lot and it mostly deals with cleansing grace, or the grace that cleans and keeps from sin. i dont want to draw my own conclusions on this, can you just explain how grace plays a part in marriage? i’d like to know how a sacramental marriage is better off than a happily married non-catholic couple. thanks. 🙂
 
it does seem that when folks want an annulment, the mariage becomes invalid.
 
when i was joining the Church, the deacon in charge of rcia. explained it to me this way. since my husband and i were both baptized and the Church recognized those baptisms then and only then was there a sacramental marriage. 😉
 
AgnosTheist said:
Marriage among protestants.
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Assuming both Protestants are baptized, this marriage is both valid and Sacramental.
Marriage among Muslims.
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Marriage among Hindus.
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These would be valid marriages, without being Sacramental.
Marriage among Atheists.
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Iff both of the Atheists were baptized, then their marriage would also be considered Sacramental, even though they are not currently practicing any form of Christian faith. If neither were baptized, or if only one of them had been baptized, then it would be valid but not sacramental.
When is a Non-Catholic Marriage considered as Sacramental by Catholics?
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When both of the parties to the marriage had been baptized according to the Trinitarian formula at some point previous to the wedding.
 
AgnosTheist said:
thats a lot and it mostly deals with cleansing grace, or the grace that cleans and keeps from sin. i dont want to draw my own conclusions on this, can you just explain how grace plays a part in marriage? i’d like to know how a sacramental marriage is better off than a happily married non-catholic couple. thanks. 🙂
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I’m not sure if you’re serious with your questions or not. On the chance that you are…

I would say there’s a difference between a marriage between Him and Her (non-sacramental) and a marriage between Him, Her, and God (sacramental).
 
jmcrae said:
When both of the parties to the marriage had been baptized according to the Trinitarian formula at some point previous to the wedding.
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so what is this thing called ‘sacramental’? are sacramentally married couples better off than happily married jews? how?
 
SuscipeMeDomine said:
I’m not sure if you’re serious with your questions or not. On the chance that you are…

I would say there’s a difference between a marriage between Him and Her (non-sacramental) and a marriage between Him, Her, and God (sacramental).
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Im very serious. So whats the difference (aside from an additional 7 characters/letters: “and God”) ? What role does grace play? Any ideas?
 
AgnosTheist said:
so what is this thing called ‘sacramental’? are sacramentally married couples better off than happily married jews? how?
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I don’t know if material happiness enters into it at all. Apart from questions that occur after a divorce, if the couple in question has some kind of involvment in the Catholic Church after the divorce, I don’t know that it makes all that much difference, materially, either way.

There are Sacramental marriages that don’t involve God in any conscious way, as with the example of two baptized atheists. Obviously they are not consciously including God in their marriage, whereas a Jewish or Hindu couple would most certainly want to unite their marriage with at least their concept of God.

That having been said, I certainly think that a Catholic contemplating marriage would want to make sure that his marriage is both valid and sacramental. For a Catholic couple, having this status is extremely important to the spiritual welfare of the relationship.
 
jmcrae said:
Assuming both Protestants are baptized, this marriage is both valid and Sacramental.

These would be valid marriages, without being Sacramental.

Iff both of the Atheists were baptized, then their marriage would also be considered Sacramental, even though they are not currently practicing any form of Christian faith. If neither were baptized, or if only one of them had been baptized, then it would be valid but not sacramental.

When both of the parties to the marriage had been baptized according to the Trinitarian formula at some point previous to the wedding.
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DITTO.
 
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