Canon Law and Marriage Records

Posted on March 26, 2015 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: My wife and I have been married for eight years.  We were married in her parish church at that time, but we now live in the same parish where my family lived when I was born, and where I went to parochial school.

My wife was chatting with the parish secretary about various things and somehow they ended up talking about my being baptized there.  The secretary looked in the old parish register and said that yes, I was baptized and made my First Communion and was confirmed, but there’s no record of us ever getting married, and there should be (or so she said)!  What the heck does that mean?  We were married in a different Catholic parish, by my wife’s pastor, so there’s a record of it there, and we have a copy of it.  Why would our current parish have a record of our marriage in a different parish anyway?  My wife is still shaken by this, she said the parish secretary kind of intimated that we’re not really married.  Can you shed any light on this? –Blake Continue reading →

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Can Catholics be Prohibited from Marrying in Lent and Advent?

Posted on March 12, 2015 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: I am engaged to a non-Catholic. We want to have the wedding in December, during the Advent season.  December is the only time when all my relatives are around due to the school holiday…

My parish priest rejected my request, saying church policy forbids any weddings during Advent.  He is known for being stricter with procedure.  The priest told me that it is the DIOCESE which refuses to solemnize marriages in Advent.

But there is another parish…which permits weddings during Advent.  Why does this parish allow weddings but my parish does not?  It’s just unfair, I think.

My last resort would be marrying in my fiancée’s non-Catholic Church.  But a Catholic wedding is really important to me.  I just don’t want to give up.  What should I do to make my wedding valid in the eyes of the Catholic Church? –Henry Continue reading →

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Catechetics and the Authority of the Parish Priest

Posted on February 19, 2015 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: Our pastor implemented a new faith formation program.  It is extremely rigorous and has been met with anger and frustration from all parents. In a nutshell, the program of catechetics is “taught” by the parents…. There are pages and pages of study material, study questions, articles and also various media requirements, such as movies, book chapters, and audio books.

Can our pastor deny First Penance to those students who he feels have not complied with the new program requirements to his satisfaction?  And, can he ask that parents fill out a form before he hears the confession, which includes information such as name, family number, date and priest’s signature?  Our diocese says that the pastor can do whatever he wants as long as he’s not breaking the law. –Monica Continue reading →

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Excommunication and the Authority of the Parish Priest

Posted on February 5, 2015 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: What course do parishioners have to ask the bishop to correct, reprimand or otherwise relocate a priest who refuses to baptize children of parents that he doesn’t “recognize” as parishioners, even though they are on the parish roll?  He has cut the Mass schedule, making it nearly impossible for shift workers to attend Mass.  And he won’t offer English-language baptism classes, confirmation classes and CCD.

This priest threatened to excommunicate the last person who sat down to try to discuss their “concerns” with him. –Andrea Continue reading →

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Annulments and the Authority of the Parish Priest

Posted on January 22, 2015 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: In 1987, I was married in the Catholic Church. Both of us were Catholics.  We civilly divorced after three years of marriage. In 1994, I explained the previous marriage situation to a priest who was helping me and my new fiancée get married in the Catholic Church.  He had me begin the annulment process, but it took too long and was not completed, no determination was made.  The priest…told me that getting an annulment was a “formality,” and married us in Church in 1995 even though I had not had my previous marriage in the Catholic Church declared null by the Tribunal of our diocese.

Am I validly, licitly married under Canon Law?  Do I still need to get an annulment? –Patrick Continue reading →

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