After I proposed to my fiance (I am Catholic and she is Lutheran), she came down with some medical problems and we decided to get married by the justice of the peace for medical insurance reasons. Nine months later we married in her Lutheran church with approval from my local Priest managing our marriage preparation class. I don't recall every telling the Priest we were already married in the legal sense. Does the undisclosed civil ceremony invalidate the church ceremony?

-- John R. (N6545T@hotmail.com), January 18, 2005

Answers

The civil ceremony has no bearing since it had no effect. You were not married after that ceremony. The real question is whether the Protestant ceremony resulted in a valid marriage. I doubt that your local priest had the authority to approve such a ceremony. Perhaps he formally requested approval from the bishop; however, few bishops would grant such approval in the absence of extreme circumstances.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), January 18, 2005.

Paul M. has given a good answer but I would take exception to the part "few bishops would grant [a dispensation from form] in the absence of extreme circumstances." If both baptized spouses have met with a Catholic priest, and both attended Catholic marriage preparation, and the Catholic spouse was sincere in continuing the practice of the Catholic faith, I don't believe that the bishop would withhold the dispensation, i.e. extreme circumstances would not be required.

-- Patrick Sweeney (psweeney@nyc.rr.com), January 27, 2005.