Author Topic: Sacrament of Matrimony (Read 1251 times)

LittleFlowers · « **on:** August 04, 2016, 02:34:47 AM »

With God willing, I pray that I will be getting married in the Holy Church with the Sacrament of Matrimony. Only, I am a little confused. The priest at my home parish said I would need a civil ceremony after the Sacrament. Is this the norm?

Any input would be appreciated.

God Bless

nctradcath · « **Reply #1 on:** August 04, 2016, 05:51:30 AM »

Unless the priest does not have a state license to marry couples, I am not sure why he would tell you this.

Degrelle · « **Reply #2 on:** August 04, 2016, 09:28:49 AM »

This is the norm in many places in Europe where clergy are not given marriage licenses by the state. Therefore, if the couple want to be considered married in the eyes of the state, they have a civil wedding after the sacrament.

It sounds like your parish priest does not have a marriage license. This is becoming more common here in Canada, since technically anyone holding a marriage license could be forced to do a "gαy""marriage" so priests prepare to stay out of it.

Peter15and1 · « **Reply #3 on:** August 04, 2016, 09:47:34 AM »

It depends entirely on what country you are in. In most English-speaking countries, the religious wedding ceremony and the civil wedding ceremony are fused into the same event, and the priest can sign the civil marriage license.

However, in other countries (mainland Europe, for example), the state does not recognize religious weddings. Therefore, couples do have two ceremonies, in order to gain civil recognition of their marriage. Such a situation is expressly permitted by the 1917 Code of Canon Law:

Quote from: Canon 1063

...

The Church does not censure parties who are forced by civil law to appear before a non-Catholic minister, who acts as an official of the government, but their intention must be to merely comply with the requirements of law and to gain the civil recognition of marriage.

LittleFlowers · « **Reply #4 on:** August 04, 2016, 07:41:21 PM »

Thanks, everyone, for the kind replies.

The priest is from Mexico, and I was surprised that he told me that I would need a civil ceremony after the Sacrament.

It's my home church, though, and we already completed Pre Cana and submitted the paperwork to be married there...