Catholic/Baptist wedding?

Question

My boyfriend and i have been slowly hinting around for marriage, but there's a problem. He's catholic and i... not sure really, been in a holiness and baptist and just always said "i'm christian, not specific i worship God by the Bible" not labeling myself you know? Well he wants a church wedding. Can 2 different religion branches get married in a catholic church? Is there any way to make it work and still have a church wedding?

Answer 1

The Catholic Church allows marriage between Catholics and non-Catholics. 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.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

How marvelous! It's like my parents story all over again. My father is a Catholic and was raised in the Catholic church. My mother is a Baptist and was raised in the Baptist church. They were married in a church by both a Baptist minister and a Catholic priest at the same time. By the way, they are going on 40+ years of happily ever after. It can be done and can work without a hitch, if you will pardon the pun! Good luck!

Answer 3

Yes, you most certainly can be married in his Catholic church. He'll need what is called "dispensation" to marry you, but since you are a baptized Christian, that should be no problem. Also, you will have to observe the "rules" for being married at his church, which may include premarital counseling, taking some other classes, etc. Only your boyfriend would have to agree to raise your kids Catholic (they won't ask you to promise that).

I also suggest that you learn more about his faith, just so you understand what the wedding ceremony will include (Catholics believe marriage is a Sacrament, like baptism is), how he'll be raising the kids in his faith, etc. There is typically a free, weekly class called RCIA which the two of you can take together.

Congratulations!

Answer 4

My fiancée and I just ran into this problem recently, in order for you to get married in the Catholic Church you must have been baptized as a Christian. I am not Catholic nor do I really have a desire to be, but her being more religious than I am, it is that much more important to her. From my understanding he has to be active in the Church at least six months prior to the wedding date. You will also have to participate in the Catholic marriage preparation program that the archdiocese has in your area. You will need to meet with the head priest of the parish and perhaps do some pre-marital counseling with him as well. The best things to do is check with his parish and see what the requirements are for your situation, they will be able to direct you further from there. My fiancée and I opted for an outdoor wedding, which unfortunately the Catholic Church does not recognize, so we will be having our marriage blessed later by the church instead of having the ceremony there. Hope this helps, good luck to you.

Answer 5

My sister (Catholic), married her husband (Baptist) in a Catholic church, and my friend (Lutheran) married her husband (Catholic) in a Catholic church. The non-Catholics had to agree to go through the pre-marital counseling required by the parish, but they didn't have to convert or anything. The Church did require that they promise to raise any children in the Catholic Church. That wasn't a problem for either my brother-in-law or my friend. If that is a problem for you, I don't see why you couldn't be married in a Baptist or other Christian church.

Answer 6

Oh come on!
Do you honestly think you are the only Catholic/nonCatholic ever to think about getting married???

Your boyfriends, as a Catholic, is required to marry according to the laws of the Church. Since religion obviously does not mean a lot to you, that should not be an issue.

You go to the priest- with your baptismal certificates. Your bf must sign a document promising to raise the children as Catholics. You must acknowledge his promise.

You are not required to become Cahtolic- but as the religious education director of a Catholic pariah, I suggest you go to RCIA classes. Even if you do not decide to convert, you will have a better idea of what it means for your BF to be a Catholic.

Answer 7

Absolutely. In fact I was once a bridesmaid in a Catholic/Baptist wedding. The ceremony was conducted in a Catholic chapel with a Catholic priest and a Baptist minister. It was a lovely wedding, and the couple in question has been happily married for nearly twenty years now.

Best of luck and all joy to you both.

Answer 8

My heart goes out to you. I was raised Catholic, but I never got into all the church politics (since we were under 25 they wanted us to do pre-marriage counseling) and he isn't Catholic. I wasn't gonna convert to his religion and he wasn't gonna convert to mine. We looked into a neutral church for a wedding, but not a lot of places liked the idea of two non-members of that religion being married under their roof.

We opted to get married outside in a park by a Methodist minister that is a friend of my family (he also married my brother and his wife which I thought would be neat). It made everyone's family happy and we didn't have to step on anyone's toes to get married.

The important thing is that you love eachother. Just find a way to compromise.

Answer 9

I believe so these days - but the Catholic church expect you to bring your children up as Catholic

Answer 10

i am in this same situation. as long as he is catholic and been through catechism confirmation and holy communion they will marry you. they might require premarital counseling though. i thought it was just a good idea to have premarital counseling anyways so we did it. we are not having a big catholic wedding but we are getting married under god in his church. his catholic family is happy and my nondenominational christian family is happy. plus catholic churches are beautiful.