I was wondering what the rules are before you get married. My Fiance is Catholic and I am not do I have to convert to marry him in a Catholic church. If so then how long does this take? Also if I do not what is the process we have to go through to get married in the church? Do we have to go through marriage counseling? If so how long? Do we have to attend the church for a certain amount of time before we can marry? He is an active member of the church I am not. I just need to know the entire process! Thanks!
2007-02-11 06:55:01 · 11 answers · asked by Anonymous in Family & Relationships ➔ Weddings
No, you need not convert to marry a Catholic- don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Having said that, your married life will be much easier if you become Catholic, but you can investigate that later.
DO NOT become Catholic for your fiance- you should only become Catholic for YOU. RCIA are the classes, and even if you do not convert, they are there to help you understand the faith. Classes start in the Fall, with those choosing to enter the Church being received at the Easter Vigil Mass.
Catholic marriage preparation has been around a very long time and deals with many issues people never consider before marriage. It varies in length, but you usually meet with the priest 1-2 times a month for an hour or so for 4-6 sessions.
You may not be able to have a Nuptial Mass if you are not Catholic. This is out of consideration for the nonCatholics who would be at the wedding, and it would look weird for your fiance to receive the Eucharist and not you. When I married 22 years ago, my priest and my fiance both knew how important the Mass is to me, so we had the full Mass.
2007-02-14 13:21:57 · answer #1 · answered by Mommy_to_seven 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You do not need to become Catholic to marry him. If you choose to do so the process normally starts in Sept. or Oct. and continues until the Easter Vigil (Saturday night before Easter Sunday).The pre-marriage counseling is Pre-Cana through the diocese( about 6 hours) or Engaged Encounter ( a whole weekend; it is actually kind of fun). If he is an active member of a Church you don't have to worry about attending Church for a certain amount of time.
In NJ (Trenton Diocese), you have to meet with the priest 1 year before your wedding date. In CT, (Hartford Diocese) you only have to make the arrangements 6 months in advance, so each Diocese has their own rules.
2007-02-11 08:48:51 · answer #2 · answered by ee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Both my fiance and I are non practicing Catholics, so I don't know exactly about converting, but I don't think you have to.
You do have to do a marriage counseling thing, called Pre cana. His church will be able to tell you where you can go. It is either a weekend, all day Saturday and Sunday, or a couple of weeks, for one night a week. You can pick whichever suits you.
You will have to meet with the priest at least once before you get married. You (as a non-Catholic) will have to swear to accept children into your marriage and promise to raise your children Catholic. They will also ask you some other questions (some are uncomfortable, like did you sleep with his father or brother, and if you did anything to his ex-girlfriend to be with him. They'll also ask if he or his family forced you into marriage.)
It's really not that bad, and I know you can do it if you are not Catholic, but I would meet with the priest and find out exactly what you have to do.
Congratulations, and good luck!
2007-02-11 07:04:52 · answer #3 · answered by Just tryin' to help 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
+ Marriage +
The Catholic Church allows marriage between Catholics and non-Catholics. He does not need to be "active" and you do not have to convert.
Because the Church recognizes the tremendous challenge that the interfaith couple will face, they may have to get permission from the bishop.
All couples marrying in the Catholic church have to take a pre-marriage course of about 8 hours.
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt2sect2chpt3art7.htm#1633
+ Joining the Catholic Church +
If you choose to convert then it will take about a year and culminate at the Easter Vigil mass.
If you are interested in joining or just learning more about the Catholic Church, contact your local parish and ask about information about their RCIA Inquiry group.
You can go and ask any questions you want.
This is the first step in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) but you can stop at any time.
There is no obligation to become a Catholic.
Here is a site with more information: http://www.ecatholic2000.com/rcia/rcia.shtml
With love in Christ
2007-02-11 15:25:03 · answer #4 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This will depend upon the parish and diocese, so things would have to be worked out with your bf's priest. However, you don't have to be Catholic to get married to him in a Catholic church. You would have to both take premarital counselling classes, and you MUST agree to raise your children in the Catholic faith - so make sure ahead of time you are totally prepared to do this. And, yes, you will have to become a regular church goer - if he is already, it will be nice for the two of you to share this together.
2007-02-11 09:27:27 · answer #5 · answered by Lydia 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not Catholic, but my husband is. This is what we had to do....
1)Get a dispensation for him to marry a non-Catholic
2)Go to a "Marriage" weekend conference
3)Sign another declaration stating we would raise our children according to Catholic teachings.
You ABSOLUTELY DO NOT HAVE TO CONVERT and only one of you have to be a member of the congregation to have a wedding there. Make an appointment with his Priest and he will walk you through the steps involved. It isn't very difficult...it only gets tricky when one of you has been married before or you want to have a priest marry you someplace other than a Catholic cathedral. Good luck!
2007-02-11 08:17:17 · answer #6 · answered by emrobs 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You do not need to convert to marry him You will need to meet with the priest. He will give you the information on going to pre-can but, that can be done either in 1 day, a weekend retreat, or split up in 3 classes. No big deal they want you to realize marriage is a life time not just the day of the party. Each chuch is different with the attending my chuch did not make a big deal about it. Don't stress
2007-02-15 06:34:02 · answer #7 · answered by Kat G 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't need to become Catholic.
There is a special preparation sometimes called Pre-Cana, sometimes Engaged Encounter (probably called other things elsewhere) that you must go through (all who get married in the Catholic church must do this)
It depends on the parish.
2007-02-11 06:58:23 · answer #8 · answered by heinzlsm 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i believe you do have to convert if u want to marry in his church. I'm not sure how long before you have to do it. you do not have to attend the church a certain amount of times or anything like that. and i think you have to go to one session of marriage counseling.
2007-02-11 07:01:46 · answer #9 · answered by adnama_n_werd 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
No, you don't have to be Catholic too. Whether you're Catholic or not you will still have to take classes together. You have to start at least 6 months before your wedding date. If you look up his diocese online it should have information about weddings.
2007-02-11 07:00:31 · answer #10 · answered by fairytalegatherings 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋