My husband and I are working with our parish priest to get our marriage validated in the Catholic Church. I have provided the priest my certificates of Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation. We are in the process of obtaining similar information for my husband.

So far we have obtained his certificate of Baptism. His Confirmation date is notated on the back, but the location of the church is incorrect - a wrong US state is listed. Also, his First Communion date is not noted and we antipicate difficulty in obtaining his Certificate of First Communion, as the parish were it occurred has closed and we don't know where the records are.

Here are my questions:

1. Do we need to take any action to correct the inaccurate record regarding the location of the church where he was Confirmed? May we submit this information to the priest as is?

2. As we have proof of his Confirmation, do we need to pursue getting proof of his First Communion (since First Communion is required before Confirmation)?

Thank you for your help.

-- Jenn Koch (jenkocher@hotmail.com), January 25, 2005

Answers

-- (@@@.@), January 26, 2005.

Answer to question 1. Yes you should get it corrected. You will probably need supporting documentation or a sworn testimony of witnesses illustrating the errors.

Answer to question 2. No. And for the record, the NORMAL order of the reception of the Sacraments of Initiation is not Eucharist (First Communion) then Confirmation, it is the other way around.

The request for Certificates of Baptism has a condition attached to it, that is, the certificates should be new, not more than six months old. If a particular church building no longer exists, then go though the Chancery Office, this is the centre for the affairs of the entire diocese where the bishop works from.

Good luck and God Bless.

-- Fr. Paul (pjdoucet@hotmail.com), February 13, 2005.