The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is God’s doing: “God himself is the author of marriage”, which is his way of showing love for those he created. Because a marriage is a divine institution it can never be broken, even if the partners are legally divorced: as long as they are both alive, the Church considers them bound together by God.

Catholics are encouraged to marry other Catholics in order to attain a “perfect union of mind and full communion of life”, but it is also the priest’s duty to remember that marriage is part of God’s natural law and to support the couple if they do choose to marry.

Today in countries throughout the world it is common for Catholics to enter into a ‘mixed marriage’ (a marriage between a Catholic and a baptised non-Catholic).

Couples entering into a mixed marriage are usually allowed to marry in a Catholic church provided they have embraced the following principles:

• They have chosen to marry of their own accord with no external pressure
• They intend to remain together for life
• They intend to be faithful to each other
• They intend to have children if the bride is of childbearing age

When one member of the couple is not a Catholic, a dispensation is required for a mixed marriage to take place. This is normally granted by the priest who is conducting the marriage.

If one of the partners is not baptised (they belong to a non-Christian religion, or to none) a dispensation for ‘disparity of the cult’ is required. This must be granted by the bishop. It is usually a straightforward matter as long as the dispensation is applied for in time. The priest will usually take care of the paperwork.

Catholic teaching on marriage to non-Catholics

The Catholic Church recognises that mixed marriages can pose difficulties but it also points towards the importance of growing together through dialogue and a common faith in Jesus Christ.

The Catholic church also makes a distinction between a mixed marriage and a marriage with disparity of cult (a marriage between a Catholic and non-baptised person).

Priests are required by the Church to ensure that such marriages will not endanger the faith of the Catholic partner. In practice, priests will judge each situation on a case by case basis. If difficulties arise, it is the pastoral duty of the priest to raise questions and initiate a frank discussion with the couple. He would use the same logic as any other situation in life where the faith of a Catholic could be in jeopardy.

While the Church urges caution in the case of marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics, it does not prevent a Catholic from marrying the person of their choice.

Preparing for marriage

Before a marriage takes place, a couple must spend time with the priest to talk about the sanctity of marriage and their role within the church in preparation for their life together. Questions concerning family and children, money issues, lifestyle choices and religion will be asked.

These marriage preparations are known as pre-Cana. It is an educational and maturing process for married life. Pre-Cana can take place over six months or an intensive weekend course and is mandatory for Catholics wishing to get married.

Whilst a couple is engaged but not yet married, they are expected to refrain from sexual activity: “They should reserve for marriage the expressions of affection that belong to married love”. This is because the Church teaches that sex is part of the procreation process and should only happen within the right framework, which is marriage.

A Catholic wedding ceremony

There are two types of Catholic marriage ceremony. One is with Mass and celebrates the Eucharist, which lasts for about an hour. The other is without Mass and only takes about 20 minutes.

The ceremony including Mass is as follows:

• Entrance rite: there is a procession, which may include a hymn. The priest greets the congregation then the Penitential rite and opening prayers are said.
• Liturgy of the Word: Bible readings, one from the Old Testament, a responsorial psalm, a New Testament reading, a Gospel acclamation, a Gospel reading and ahomily (a practical sermon, not a theological one)
• The rite of marriage: questions are asked about the couples’ faithfulness to one another and their willingness to bring up children. Then the vows are made and the rings are exchanged.
• Liturgy of the Eucharist: gifts are presented and the altar is prepared. Then the Eucharist prayer is said. Then the following are sung: Sanctus Sanctus, Memorial acclamation and Great Amen.
• Communion rite: The Lord’s Prayer is said which is followed by a nuptial blessing. Then follows the Sign of Peace, Agnus Dei and Communion Hymn (sung).
• Concluding rite: The final blessing is made, there is a dismissal and the couple kiss. There is a recessional hymn which accompanies everyone out of the church.

During your church wedding it is customary to hand out Order of Service Cards to your guests.  These booklets (usually 4-8 pages long) will contain all of your hymns, prayers and readings, and will provide the name of the vicar and church.  These cards are an essential guide for your guests and make a lovely keepsake of your wedding day.  These, and all other items of personalised wedding stationery, can be ordered from The Designer Card Company - experts in wedding invitation and wedding stationery design.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 6:32 pm and is filed under Wedding News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.