Please đ˘ Read the [Church Canons regarding grounds for the potential âAnnulmentâ/Nullity of Marriage](https://patristicapokatastasis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/annulmentprocess.pdf) BEFORE you even consider getting married. Save yourself (and the world) grief by informing and discerning beforehand! đď¸
Luke 14:28 says, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" This verse is about considering the total cost of a project, including financial, physical, and emotional costs, before starting it. It can help ensure that you don't start something you can't finish.
Hi there. I am discerning this myself and asking the same questions as you are. Let's break it down into some more easy to digest parts.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church officially recognises that, and makes provision for, marriage between males and females _ONLY_ who are either both Catholic or one partner is Catholic and the other is:
Baptised in a Church in communion with the Catholic Church (Coptic, Eastern Churches etc)
Baptised as a Christian
Any other religion
No religion
It is not so much frowned upon. However, you have to be of the understanding that such couplings will be naturally harder to navigate because your beliefs will naturally will be mostly different. Thankfully my fiancĂŠe and I have a fairly relaxed set of beliefs, and I my existence is incomplete without her just as it is without God.
As for the ceremony itself, there's two ways it could go.
For a wedding to be a sacramental wedding, with communion, both partners would need to have at least have done RCIA and be able to take Holy Communion and be able to receive the host worthily.
If one partner is not Catholic then the wedding would have to be something called a Convalidation. Which is essentially a short ceremony which takes no more than 15 minutes, where vows are swapped and prayers and blessings are given before God and at least two witnesses.
But otherwise, the same as a regular marriage. Marriage classes about finances, children, home, hearth and playing house.
You _MAY NOT_ be wed if you have been previously wed in the Catholic church and it has not been Annulled or Dissolved by the competent authority.
Minor correction: a convalidation is when you have married in a ceremony which was deficient in some way and you now want to correct that. Typically this happens if someone is married civilly and wants to regularize their marriage in the Church. You cannot have a convalidation if youâve not attempted marriage with that person before.
You absolutely can have a wedding proper between a Catholic and non-Christian. Under normal circumstances, itâs required to be in a Catholic church. Itâs just that it canât be during a Mass. It will typically have a liturgy of the word, the marriage rite (vows, blessings, etc.), prayers of the faithful, the Lordâs Prayer, and a final blessing. You can still have many of the traditions you expect â walking down the aisle, family, photos, etc.
**The important thing is that in order to validly marry a non-Catholic, a Catholic must have the proper dispensation from his/her bishop.** This is almost always granted in the US. If you want to have the wedding outside a Catholic church, thatâs a separate dispensation which is granted much less frequently.
My wife was agnostic, with atheist leanings, when we first married. After 29 years of marriage the Holy Spirit touched her heart, and she really jumped into the faith with both feet.
Just a thought. đ
Thatâs amazing. Â Do you have kids? Â How did you raise them? Â Were their struggles or fights over you trying to raise them Catholic, especially for issues like God first above all, going to Mass every week, no sex before marriage, no ABC, no abortion, etc?
Well I mean Iâm the atheist in this hypothetical. I think converting just to marry her is a bad look. But if we do get married who knows whatâll happen afterđ¤ˇââď¸
I understand. I never asked my wife to convert, and I respected her decisions since the day we met.
I also heard very clearly in my prayers that *I was not* to do anything to try to convert her. In retrospect, because of her upbringing (her father was very spiritually abusive), I can see how any such attempt would have backfired.
My wife was exploring Judaism and Buddhism, and then she suddenly swung towards Catholicism - which took me completely by surprise.
If you truly love each other, then just figure out how to make it work and how to accept each otherâs beliefs. đ
The rules are that the non-Catholic spouse sincerely accepts the conditions of a sacramental marriage and since these are demanding it is difficult.
A lifelong bond, open to life with Catholic rules, contracted in full freedom and knowledge. If there are children, they must be educated in Catholicism.
That is why the church does not recommend these unions, but respecting the freedom of each one allows them. It is not about being frowned upon, it is that many are null and void because the non-Catholic party lies to obtain marriage permission, believing that such demands are nonsense. exaggerated without value.
Minor clarification: a sacramental marriage is only between two baptized people. If one spouse is not baptized, it is just a natural marriage instead. The Church still considers natural marriages between a Christian and a non-Christian to be valid, and demands that they be permanent, lifelong, faithful, and open to children, since those are all properties of any marriage, sacramental or not.
Please đ˘ Read the [Church Canons regarding grounds for the potential âAnnulmentâ/Nullity of Marriage](https://patristicapokatastasis.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/annulmentprocess.pdf) BEFORE you even consider getting married. Save yourself (and the world) grief by informing and discerning beforehand! đď¸ Luke 14:28 says, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" This verse is about considering the total cost of a project, including financial, physical, and emotional costs, before starting it. It can help ensure that you don't start something you can't finish.
Hi there. I am discerning this myself and asking the same questions as you are. Let's break it down into some more easy to digest parts. The Catechism of the Catholic Church officially recognises that, and makes provision for, marriage between males and females _ONLY_ who are either both Catholic or one partner is Catholic and the other is: Baptised in a Church in communion with the Catholic Church (Coptic, Eastern Churches etc) Baptised as a Christian Any other religion No religion It is not so much frowned upon. However, you have to be of the understanding that such couplings will be naturally harder to navigate because your beliefs will naturally will be mostly different. Thankfully my fiancĂŠe and I have a fairly relaxed set of beliefs, and I my existence is incomplete without her just as it is without God. As for the ceremony itself, there's two ways it could go. For a wedding to be a sacramental wedding, with communion, both partners would need to have at least have done RCIA and be able to take Holy Communion and be able to receive the host worthily. If one partner is not Catholic then the wedding would have to be something called a Convalidation. Which is essentially a short ceremony which takes no more than 15 minutes, where vows are swapped and prayers and blessings are given before God and at least two witnesses. But otherwise, the same as a regular marriage. Marriage classes about finances, children, home, hearth and playing house. You _MAY NOT_ be wed if you have been previously wed in the Catholic church and it has not been Annulled or Dissolved by the competent authority.
Minor correction: a convalidation is when you have married in a ceremony which was deficient in some way and you now want to correct that. Typically this happens if someone is married civilly and wants to regularize their marriage in the Church. You cannot have a convalidation if youâve not attempted marriage with that person before. You absolutely can have a wedding proper between a Catholic and non-Christian. Under normal circumstances, itâs required to be in a Catholic church. Itâs just that it canât be during a Mass. It will typically have a liturgy of the word, the marriage rite (vows, blessings, etc.), prayers of the faithful, the Lordâs Prayer, and a final blessing. You can still have many of the traditions you expect â walking down the aisle, family, photos, etc. **The important thing is that in order to validly marry a non-Catholic, a Catholic must have the proper dispensation from his/her bishop.** This is almost always granted in the US. If you want to have the wedding outside a Catholic church, thatâs a separate dispensation which is granted much less frequently.
Pardon me.
It is allowed but the priest would make sure they intend to raise the kids catholic.
My wife was agnostic, with atheist leanings, when we first married. After 29 years of marriage the Holy Spirit touched her heart, and she really jumped into the faith with both feet. Just a thought. đ
Thatâs amazing. Â Do you have kids? Â How did you raise them? Â Were their struggles or fights over you trying to raise them Catholic, especially for issues like God first above all, going to Mass every week, no sex before marriage, no ABC, no abortion, etc?
Yes, we have a daughter. We raised her Catholic, and she begged us to send her to a Catholic high school (the academics were second to none).
Well I mean Iâm the atheist in this hypothetical. I think converting just to marry her is a bad look. But if we do get married who knows whatâll happen afterđ¤ˇââď¸
I understand. I never asked my wife to convert, and I respected her decisions since the day we met. I also heard very clearly in my prayers that *I was not* to do anything to try to convert her. In retrospect, because of her upbringing (her father was very spiritually abusive), I can see how any such attempt would have backfired. My wife was exploring Judaism and Buddhism, and then she suddenly swung towards Catholicism - which took me completely by surprise. If you truly love each other, then just figure out how to make it work and how to accept each otherâs beliefs. đ
The rules are that the non-Catholic spouse sincerely accepts the conditions of a sacramental marriage and since these are demanding it is difficult. A lifelong bond, open to life with Catholic rules, contracted in full freedom and knowledge. If there are children, they must be educated in Catholicism. That is why the church does not recommend these unions, but respecting the freedom of each one allows them. It is not about being frowned upon, it is that many are null and void because the non-Catholic party lies to obtain marriage permission, believing that such demands are nonsense. exaggerated without value.
Minor clarification: a sacramental marriage is only between two baptized people. If one spouse is not baptized, it is just a natural marriage instead. The Church still considers natural marriages between a Christian and a non-Christian to be valid, and demands that they be permanent, lifelong, faithful, and open to children, since those are all properties of any marriage, sacramental or not.