Pagan/Catholic Marraige?

Question

Hello all! The man that I'm promised to, and who I will be getting engaged to in the next few years mentioned to me something he'd heard of from one of his friends. He is a Catholic, and I of course, am Pagan. What he mentioned is that we'd get a Priest from his faith, and a high priest or priestess or both, from mine, and have them perform the ceremony together. I was wondering if any of y'all had heard of this? Also, because of the way that I practice, and how eclectic I am, there are very few covens to encompass my beliefs, so, I have always been a solitary witch. I wouldn't even know where to start to find a high priest or priestess. Please help me if you can! P.S. We are having an outdoor wedding.

Answer 1

Congradulations! I haven't heard of a dual faith ceremony being done before, but that's certainly not to say that it couldn't be done. Any local New Age/Pagan stores should be able to give you information on local covens, High Priests or High Priestesses that would be willing to conduct the ceremony. You could also do a search for pagan groups in your area on www.witchvox.com. I haven't had much experience with the Catholic faith myself, but I have been a Wiccan Priestess for 2 years and a practicing Wiccan for 11 years now. I'm sure that you and your fiance will be able to design a ceremony that will make everyone happy and respect both of your religions.

Blessed Be.

Answer 2

No your Catholic boyfriend cannot do that. He may marry you, that is not a problem, but he cannot marry you under a pagan ceremony. It will make the Catholic God very angry at your boyfriend for violating the oaths that Catholics make when they become Catholic and which they repeat at every Mass. You being a witch should know the problem with violating oaths to god(s) and you wouldn't want to put your boyfriend into such a situation would you?

Let me suggest something for you. Look up the full blown high Mass marriage rite in Latin and especially the Byzantine Greek Catholic marriage rite. You should be pleased with both, especially the symbolism contained in the Byzantine rite and the crowning of the married couple. The symbolism in these rites are deeper, more profound, and older than the pagan rites that you are used to which were developed after and often based on these Catholic rites. Give it a shot.

Here is the specific law that your boyfriend is bound by, a law which is protected and vouchsafed by the Catholic God.
Canon 1127 §3.

It is forbidden to have another religious celebration of the same marriage to give or renew matrimonial consent before or after the canonical celebration according to the norm of §1 [i.e., the Catholic wedding]. Likewise, there is not to be a religious celebration in which the Catholic who is assisting and a non-Catholic minister together, using their own rites, ask for the consent of the parties.

Answer 3

I've never heard of a wedding like that. But I do know a High Priest who married a methodist. Honestly, don't you think Catholics would be offended by having a pagan High Priest or Priestess there? Please don't think I'm judging you, but Catholics really aren't the most open-minded people. Why don't you do them separately? Like a Catholic wedding for him, and a Pagan wedding for you.

Answer 4

Good luck.

While most Catholics I know are quite tolerant, the Church has been decidedly...less accepting. When my buddy married a woman of the Hindu faith and he approached priests in several churches regarding the wedding ceremony, he was told answers that ranged from "No" to "You're going to Hell". They ended up doing a Hindu ceremony.

That's not to say that all Catholic priests will respond this way, but don't be surprised if you encounter difficulty getting a Catholic priest for a wedding that mixes faiths of different modes of worship.

Answer 5

May I suggest going to a local New Age/Pagan/Wiccan store. I'm sure that the owner of the establishment would be able to recommend a Priest/Priestess for you, or at the very least, point you in right direction.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding/hand-fasting.

Bright Blessings....

Answer 6

Because of the rigidness of the catholic church, I doubt this would be possilbe, Most Catholic organizations insist that both persons being married are Catholic. I doubt that you would be willing to convert. Secondly all traditional Catholic weddings are performed inside.

I went to Catholic school and I am now a Wiccan so I have knowledge on both sides.

I do have a suggestion though. There is a Wiccan tradition called the Avalonian Catholic Wiccan tradition. They might be able to help you in this.

Also, my husband and I got married by the Unitarians because of our different belief systems.

Answer 7

I suspect you will have a hard time finding a Catholic priest willing to do this. They probably exist, but will not be easy to track down. I presume there would be no problem finding a wiccan willing to act in the role for your side.

More important than the wedding itself, is what you plan to do regarding children. If you have some, will religion then become a problem? Figure this out before you commit.

Answer 8

YOU DONT KNOW YOUR CATHOLICS. They are the lot who firmly believe they discovered christ and as such have the only authority to conduct ceremonies.They will never agree to pagan priests attending the ceremony or they will even label your wedding as pagan. Catholics are great, but the priests and nuns are insufferable when it come to preaching christianity.For them all the dead and would be dead soon are the people to worship.But never the true god. They will not even hesitate to villify other believers if dont toe their line.

Answer 9

Speaking from personal experience with a failed non-Church marriage of a me (Catholic) with a non-Catholic, I don't recommend it. Are you willing to raise the kids Catholic? That would be a condition of the Church.

However, here's what I found about it. It was very surprising to me:
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=71221&highlight=Pagan+marriage

By the way, I used to be into wicca before I decided to convert as an adult to Catholicism.

Answer 10

I wish you the best of luck...
My fiance is Wiccan, and i am new to the wiccanf aith, but his family is mormon... we're still trying to figure out what to do about our wedding...

my family is catholic.. and in my experience, catholic clergy had HUGE issues with interfaith weddings... they would insist on conversion. but if your church is oipen to that... good luck. A Pagan/Wiccan store may be a good source to fins a high priestess to help officiate.

Answer 11

Well I guess you could consider it sweet of him to try to recognize your religion as well. I have never heard of doing it and well I wouldn't marry a pagan so I wouldn't have alot of knowledge about that. I'm not sure you would really have to bring anyone just explain to him how you aren't part of a coven. That you don't have anyone to bring in like that.