Posted on 01/18/2013 3:57:43 AM PST by Weiss White
Q: An unbaptized person can’t receive any of the other sacraments unless he gets baptized first, right? So how is it possible for a Catholic to marry a non-Christian in a Catholic ceremony? I don’t see how the non-Christian spouse can be receiving the sacrament of matrimony, if he’s never received the sacrament of baptism! Is the marriage a sacrament for the Catholic but not for the non-Christian? How does this work? –Ashley
A: It’s a very astute observation! By thinking it through logically, Ashley has spotted a genuine theological/canonical quandary.
(Excerpt) Read more at canonlawmadeeasy.com ...
I don’t know. Would like to know the answer, though, as our daughter has been dating a non-Catholic lately and they seem somewhat serious at times.
While I’m not a Catholic, it is my understanding that true Catholics aren’t advised to marry non-Catholics, if at all.
Just as the Bible says Christians should not marry non-Christians.
a catholic cannot have a catholic ceremony if marrying a non catholic...
sometimes dual ceremonies are allowed, but they will not receive the blessing of the catholic church...
When true love happens, even man-made religions succumb in attempts at preventing it.
Good luck with explaining that to my Catholic father and Presbyterian mother.
God bestows marriage, not the Catholic church.
And He bestows it - even on unbelievers - in accordance with the first marriage He ordained in the Garden of Eden.
Two religions I never date are LDS and RC. One wants you to share their cult, the other wants you to share their guilt.
My mother’s father and my father’s mother were both Irish Catholics, who married non-Catholics. My father’s father was from a Huguenot strain and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, and vehemently anti-Catholic. My mother’s mother was nominally Anglican, a Mayflower descendant and more or less indifferent to religion and mildly dismissive of Romanism. Neither my father nor my mother were raised in religous households, though both joined the Catholic Church when I was about seven. Prior to that, we attended a local Protestant Church. Protestant Sunday School was much more pleasant than Catholic catechism class.
my uncle is a catholic priest..
sometimes, an individual priest will bend the rules, but for the most part it is not allowed...
there are immediate members of the family that he could not perform the wedding for because he basically is not allowed..
he still came to the weddings, just could not partake in any official way
First of all, Roman Catholics recognize the baptism of non Catholics (protestants)
Second of all this non Catholic married a Catholic by meeting with priest and agreeing to raise children in Catholic faith
The priest then reneged on participating in our marriage ceremony
So we were married in Methodist church - no marriage sacrament for him but
for 34 years while he attends Mass and partakes of all Catholic sacraments except “marriage” (as do the kids) I do not
he’ll take his chances before God of living in sin with a Methodist vs being a “good Catholic” who marries in the Catholic church- like Pelosi and the Kennedys...LOL
Amen!
I am an evangelical Christian but the answer given is that a Catholic can marry a baptized Christian, like a Baptist, if permission is granted from their bishop, while marriage between a Catholic and an unbaptized person is invalid according to Rome. It can only take place in the Church if the bishop agrees to grant a dispensation from the law.
However being married to an unbeliever is one of the many grounds (psychological abnormality, stubbornness, etc.) for possible annulment (another of which is entering marriage with the intention of never having children, although that is what Mary did according to Catholicism).
Yet in Scripture, marriage is covenanted “leaving and cleaving,” and all consummated marriages are called marriage, even ones that were between Israelites and pagans, or other things which are possible grounds for annulment. Where dissolution is allowed, it is divorce, not annulment.
As regards baptism, Rome allows non-Catholics to even baptize infants, providing they use the right matter (water; except in case of absolute necessity), form (Trinitarian forumla), and intention, that of intending to do what the Church does in baptism. This is apart from (the sometimes disputed) baptism of desire.
But pressed more precisely, “intending to do what the Church does” in baptism would exclude almost all Baptists and Protestants from having been “properly baptized,” as they do not intend baptize in order to have sins forgiven, versus expresses the faith that appropriates forgiveness and justification.
Thus whether a baptist is considered to have been validly baptized can be a matter of interpretation, as can whether the baptized Protestant will be saved even if he does not convert to Catholicism, which Lumen Gentium seems to affirm, but which is difficult to reconcile with some past EENS statements.
I’ve always been told that a Catholic could marry a non-Catholic in the Catholic church if the non-Catholic agreed to raise the children of said marriage as Catholics.
In all the cases the Church hold is that the Sacrament of marriage is true, but on the one side -- i.e. the Catholic half. If your daughter marries a non-Catholic, then she truly receives the sacrament of Matrimony including the responsibilities. He, on the other hand, also receives it, but as he is not Catholic, he will not be held under it
The marriage is still valid
That's news to me.
I have a friend who looked into this. Her son married an unbaptized woman. They had to get approval from the bishop, there was a wedding with a priest but no Mass as it was not a sacrament. The groom stays in good standing with the Church and there was wording in the ceremony to raise the children Catholic. In older times it was more strict. My dad was Serbian Orthodox and my mom Catholic. They had a ceremony with a priest but no Mass and dad had to sign a letter saying the kids would be raised Catholic. The Orthodox are not that far removed from the Catholic Church. He was baptized and a member in good standing. The Catholic Church now accepts the baptisms of many other churches.
Say if a Lutheran married a follower of Benn Hinn -- there is a difference of opinion and of belief. There can be conflict, but doesn't have to be if both partners go into the marriage knowing the differences and accepting it
A cousin of mine married a Hindu and they've been married for 15 years, happily.
Even among Christians -- if a CAtholic marries an Orthodox or a Lutheran, the differences as not as acute as say for a Lutheran to marry a Baptist
I've never heard of any one being advised, once they have decided to marry, against marrying a non-Catholic
All that they are taught during this pre-marital course is "recognize the differences and accept it, or don't get married" -- and it's not only religious differences, but also other topics -- children, money, living with the family etc. -- people should go into marriage KNOWING about the other person and accepting it -- if a Catholic/Lutheran marries say a Baptist, then the Baptist should recognize that the Catholic will go for mass and that the Lutheran believes in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist
They don't have to believe it, but accept that their partner does. Otherwise, it is not going to be a successful marriage.
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