| Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
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| RCIA Marriage Question | Jane | Sunday, July 2, 2017 |
Question: I was raised and baptized a Southern Baptist, but in recent years have felt a strong pull to the Catholic church. My spouse is an atheist and we were married in a civil ceremony several years ago. Neither of us has been married before. We have a daughter who I would also like to bring into the Catholic church and I do not see my spouse fighting this. Would I have any issues coming into the church since we were married in a civil ceremony? I know my spouse would not protest my conversion in any way, but he would flat out refuse to participate in a convalidation ceremony. He refuses to enter any churches or speak with any priests. I would love to start the RCIA class, but if it will be required that we have an actual wedding ceremony in the church, my spouse will never agree to this. Would me and my daughter then be banned from entering the Catholic church? |
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| Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OMSM(r), CCD, LTh, DD, LNDC
Jane: I praise God that you wish to come into the Catholic Church, the only church founded by Christ personally. It is unfortunate that your husband is so adamant about not having any ceremony in the Catholic Church. I would think that he would love you enough to do this for you. It is no skin off his nose to do this. The convalidation need not be a regular wedding ceremony with all the hoopla. It can be a quiet and private ceremony with you an your husband, the priest, and the witnesses. I would advise you to talk with your parish priest about this. Maybe, with a lot of prayer, and the knowledge that the ceremony can be simple and private, your husband will change his mind. We will certainly have our prayer team pray for this. As for entering the Church, your daughter will have no problems in doing so. You can enter the Church, too, but you may have to live and brother and sister with your husband. That means no sex. If you can come into the Church, and you have sex with your husband, you can still do all the things Catholics do, except receive communion. But, perhaps if you agree to live as brother and sister, even if your spouse does not agree to that, you might be able to be confirmed anyway based upon your intention to live as brother and sister. Should you fail at that, the Sacrament of Confession is where you can have that sin forgiven. Perhaps your husband will change his mind and do the loving thing so you can live the full Sacramental life in the Church. Again, you will have to talk about the details with your parish priest about your options. We will be in prayer for this. God Bless, Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum
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