My daughter is baptized Catholic and is engaged to be married to a non-baptized (in any religeon) man. Can they be married in the Catholic church with or without Mass? If the church marriage is permitted, would he, the non-baptized party, be required to attend any form of instruction?

-- Wendy Carolyn Avila (wendycarolynavila@hotmail.com), June 17, 2003

Answers

Dear Wendy,

I am not a priest, but as far as i know as boyfriend is not baptised. Your daughter would have to get permission from the diocese to marry him in the catholic church. With out this document the marriage will have grounds for an annulment as could be proven a unvaild marriage. Best thing is to go to your church and speak to the pastor he will guide you the right way. God bless

-- Beth (goodluck08062000@hotmail.com), June 17, 2003.

Jmj
Hello, Wendy.

Assuming that there are no major impediments to marriage, and assuming that her bishop gives permission, your daughter will be able to marry her fiance in a Catholic ceremony. It can take place in church, but outside of Mass. Theirs would be what is called a "natural marriage," not a sacramental one, due to the fact that one spouse is unbaptized. It is almost certain that your daughter's bishop has a rule that requires all engaged couples to attend classes/meetings designed to prepare them for marriage, probably during a six-month period.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), June 17, 2003.

My husband was raised Methodist. We were married in the Catholic church but could not have a Mass. We did have to ask permission first.

-- Ailicre (ailicre@spool.net), June 20, 2003.

In response to -- "and assuming that her bishop gives permission"

How do you go about getting this permission? Is it a long process?

I know I'd have to talk to my priest first, but I just wanna know the details b/c I'm still a long way away from marriage. Thanx.

-- Suzanne (vivasuzi@care2.com), June 30, 2003.

Jmj
Suzanne, you are starting out correctly, by planning to talk to your parish priest. He should take care of contacting your bishop. I can't predict how long the bishop will take to make a decision, but the priest will probably know.
God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), June 30, 2003.