Canon Law and Fraudulent Marriages

Posted on March 20, 2014 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q:  My fiancée and I attended a marriage-prep class in our diocese, and one of the speakers said something we didn’t fully understand.  First he urged us to be open and honest with each other about our past lives, not hiding anything from one another, which made basic sense to us.  But then he mentioned that we need to do this because otherwise our marriage could be null because of fraud.

We’ve known each other since childhood anyway, so it’s a moot point for us.  Later on, though, we were wondering if telling your future spouse every single little thing about you is really necessary for a valid Catholic marriage?  What happens if you honestly forget to mention something?  –Scott Continue reading →

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Can We Have Both a Priest and a Non-Catholic Minister at our Wedding?

Posted on March 6, 2014 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q1: I’m Catholic and my fiancé is from a devout Lutheran family.  They weren’t too pleased when I told them our wedding has to take place in a Catholic church….  Is it permissible for us under canon law to have a wedding ceremony in my parish church, and have his Lutheran minister “co-marry” us there, alongside the Catholic priest?  I asked my pastor and he said no, but I couldn’t tell if he refused because that’s actually the law, or if he just didn’t like the idea.  –Christina

Q2: My Jewish girlfriend and I want to get married, and both of our families are insisting that the ceremony be conducted in their own place of worship.  I understand that since I’m a Catholic, I have to follow canonical form and so the wedding ceremony must be Catholic.  But my future in-laws, not surprisingly, don’t see it that way.  I’m wondering if there’s any reason why we couldn’t have a Catholic marriage ceremony first, and then at a later date go through the Jewish ceremony as well?  I’m assuming that canonically we can, because we really would be married validly in the Church first… –Ian Continue reading →

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Can a Catholic Ever Elope?

Posted on February 20, 2014 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q:  What does canon law say about Catholics eloping?  I understand the issue from the perspective of the  sacramental theology of the Church, but was wondering if canon law had anything to say about it, if a Catholic really wants to elope. –David

A:  When we speak of “elopement” today, we usually envision a young couple running away in the middle of the night to be married in secret, and without the consent of their parents—usually by a justice of the peace in a civil wedding ceremony.  Is it ever possible for a Catholic couple (or a couple including only one Catholic) to marry under such circumstances?  There are actually several different components of the question that merit a closer look from a canonical standpoint. Continue reading →

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Could Women Ever be Ordained Deaconesses?

Posted on February 6, 2014 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: A coworker was talking loudly at work about an article she’d read, endorsing the ordination of women as deacons, and she was all for it.  It didn’t sound right to me, though, but I couldn’t put my finger on why not.  Would it be possible for the Church to ordain female deacons as deaconesses?  If not, what’s the argument against it? –Katie

A: At first glance, this would appear to be a question with a straightforward answer.  Continue reading →

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Am I Permanently Barred from Ordination to the Priesthood?

Posted on January 23, 2014 by canonlawmadeeasy

Q: I have been discerning my vocation, trying to determine whether or not I am called to be a priest.  I happened to find a commentary on canon law in my school library… it says that a person is barred from priestly ordination, permanently, if they have ever been a heretic, apostate, or schismatic.  I was baptized outside the Church (Lutheran), and professed agnosticism for a time before converting to Catholicism around the time I was 17.  Does that make me incur the irregularity? –Alex

A: Alex has encountered a legal concept that has not been addressed before in this space: the notion of an irregularity.  Continue reading →

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