Why Can’t These Priests Ever Celebrate a Valid Catholic Wedding?

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Cathy Caridi

Q1: Can a laicized Catholic priest ever validly marry a Catholic couple? —Courtney

Q2: My best friend is going to marry a divorced Catholic man, and she asked me to be a bridesmaid… her pastor said that her fiancé would have to obtain an annulment of his first marriage before they could marry in the Church, but then she found this group of Catholic priests who told her it wasn’t necessary.  They said they will marry you without it, in a Catholic ceremony in a hotel or some other place that’s not a church…  This can’t be right, can it?  My friend is insisting that it will be a real Catholic wedding by a priest, but something must be wrong here.  What do you think? –Emma Continue reading →

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Mass Intentions and Stipends (Part II)

Posted on February 22, 2018 by Cathy Caridi

Q1: I know that concelebrating priests may each have their own intentions for the one concelebrated Mass.  But can each of them receive a separate stipend for the one concelebrated Mass?  So for instance, my pastor and I concelebrate.  He takes the stipend for the announced intention of the Mass.  May I also take a stipend for a different intention?

That’s what I’ve been doing.  But another canon lawyer told me differently. –Father D.

Q2: I’m thinking about starting a website to help priests gain Mass stipends, that could also be an App, but don’t want to give any appearance I’m trafficking in stipends.  But I wouldn’t mind making a very modest stipend for myself for the apostolate.

Do you think it would be appropriate canonically to do a project like this?  And take a stipend too?  I was thinking 10%.  $2 on a $20 stipend.  Me facilitating the transfer of a stipend to priests is a service, and laity can ask for their own stipend in the service they give.  Correct?

(Later update:) My wife suggested not requiring anything for myself, but the priest would have the option to give a little to the website. –Christopher Continue reading →

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Can the Pope Validly Marry People on an Airplane?

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Cathy Caridi

Q: It would seem that [during his trip to Chile] Pope Francis received and blessed a couple who actually celebrated the sacrament of Holy Matrimony on the Pope’s flight.

At first glance, according to your previous articles about canonical validity regarding the location of the celebration, the pope’s airplane doesn’t seem to be like an ordinary parish. Therefore I wonder: is that sacrament valid?

If so, is it because the pope has the power to derogate from canon law in specific situations?  Or at his own pleasure?  I understand he is the Supreme Legislator, so is this an example of Pope Francis using that liberty? –Brian Continue reading →

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How Did My Ex Remarry in the Church, Since We Never Got an Annulment?

Posted on January 25, 2018 by Cathy Caridi

Q: My ex-husband and I are both Catholics.  We got married in my parish church.  We later were divorced but never got an annulment.

Recently he got remarried in a civil ceremony.  They went on their honeymoon to [a major European city], and I bumped into them shortly after they came back.  They smugly announced to me that “we had our marriage blessed in [the Catholic cathedral there].”

WHAT?  How did they do that, since our marriage was never annulled? –Beth Continue reading →

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Can Children Have Any Input in Their Parents’ Annulment Proceedings?

Posted on January 11, 2018 by Cathy Caridi

Q: If one or both of the parties to a marriage seeks an annulment in the Catholic Church, do the adult children of that marriage have any canonical rights to be informed of that process, involved in it, or have their opinions heard or represented in it?

It seems to me that the validity of the marriage which produced them is something that it is right and proper for a child to have an interest in. (I realize that the Church does not consider the children of an annulled marriage to be illegitimate—but surely the proper interests of a child in the validity of their parent’s marriage go beyond the mere question of their own legitimacy.) –Simon Continue reading →

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