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My daughter is a Protestant who was married to another Protestant
in a Protestant church. After seven years of Hell, she divorced
the man due to his infidelity and drug usage. Now she is dating
a Catholic fellow who has never been married. They want to
get engaged.
His family is politely but firmly insisting that
they have a Catholic wedding. They want Rachel to join the
Church and obtain an annulment. She found out in her RCIA class
the other night that, though the Catholic Church recognizes other baptisms, She does not recognize our daughter's (nor our) baptism, because when our family was baptized, the preacher
said:
"I now baptize you in the name of Jesus."
Is Rachel's baptism invalid, as if she were an unbeliever?
If so, does she have to have an annulment?
If she had an invalid baptism can she be appropriately baptized into the Church and proceed
to consider marriage with Jason without an annulment?
This whole thing is quite confusing.
J.J.
{ If her baptism was invalid, are we considered unbelievers and what's required for her marriage? }
Mike replied:
Dear
J.J.,
The Church teaches that each sacrament has one form, or set of words, and one
matter, both of which must be followed for the Sacrament to be considered valid.
VI. The Necessity of Baptism
.
.
1260 "Since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact
called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that
the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partakers,
in a way known to God, of the Paschal mystery." (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 22 § 5; cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium 16; Vatican II, Ad Gentes 7) Every man who
is ignorant of the Gospel of Christ and of His Church, but seeks the
truth and does the will of God in accordance with his understanding
of it, can be saved. It may be supposed that such persons would have
desired Baptism explicitly if they had known its necessity.
Because both you and Rachel had the desire to be baptized,
I'm sure the Spirit has assisted you and her many times, based on
your understanding of Christian Revelation. Now that you know the
necessity of a valid baptism, I would encourage you to look into the Church and the fullness
of faith She has to offer all mankind.
As I tell my Baptist friend though, faith is a free will choice,
not something that is coerced on someone. A coerced Baptism is an invalid Baptism.
If she had an invalid baptism can she be appropriately baptized into the Church and proceed
to consider marriage with Jason without an annulment?
The Church first has to determine weather she was in a valid marriage, otherwise She would be open to blessing bigamy. Because the Church doesn't know the specifics of your daughter's
situation, an examination of previous marital issues is conducted
to determine if a Declaration of Nullity can be granted.
A Declaration of Nullity means that something within the Matrimonial
consent was lacking on the groom's end or the bride's end. Although they
appeared to get married, the marriage was invalid.
One can receive Baptism only once. In those cases where there is
a question as to the validity of the previous Baptism,
the Church uses a "conditional Baptism". The priest would
say something like:
"If you are not baptized, Name, I baptize
you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit."
1625 The parties to a marriage covenant are a baptized man and woman, free to contract marriage, who freely express their consent; to be free means:
not being under constraint;
not impeded by any natural or ecclesiastical law.
1626 The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the indispensable element that makes the marriage. (Code of Canon Law, canon 1057 § 1) If consent is lacking there is no marriage.
1627 The consent consists in a human act by which the partners mutually give themselves to each other: I take you to be my wife — I take you to be my husband. (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 48 § 1; Ordo celebrandi Matrimonium 45; cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1057 § 2) This consent that binds the spouses to each other finds its fulfillment in the two becoming one flesh. (Genesis 2:24; cf. Matthew 10:8; Ephesians 5:31)
1628 The consent must be an act of the will of each of the contracting parties, free of coercion or grave external fear. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1103) No human power can substitute for this consent. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1057 § 1) If this freedom is lacking the marriage is invalid.
1629 For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canons 1095-1107) In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged. (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1071)
1630 The priest (or deacon) who assists at the celebration of a marriage receives the consent of the spouses in the name of the Church and gives the blessing of the Church. The presence of the Church's minister (and also of the witnesses) visibly expresses the fact that marriage is an ecclesial reality.
1631 This is the reason why the Church normally requires that the faithful contract marriage according to the ecclesiastical form. Several reasons converge to explain this requirement: (cf. Council of Trent: DS 1813-1816; Code of Canon Law, canon 1108)
Sacramental marriage is a liturgical act. It is therefore appropriate that it should be celebrated in the public liturgy of the Church;
Marriage introduces one into an ecclesial order, and creates rights and duties in the Church between the spouses and towards their children;
Since marriage is a state of life in the Church, certainty about it is necessary (hence the obligation to have witnesses);
The public character of the consent protects the I do once given and helps the spouses remain faithful to it.
1632 So that the I do of the spouses may be a free and responsible act and so that the marriage covenant may have solid and lasting human and Christian foundations, preparation for marriage is of prime importance.
The example and teaching given by parents and families remain the special form of this preparation.
The role of pastors and of the Christian community as the family of God is indispensable for the transmission of the human and Christian values of marriage and family, (cf. Code of Canon Law, canon 1063) and much more so in our era when many young people experience broken homes which no longer sufficiently assure this initiation:
It is imperative to give suitable and timely instruction to young people, above all in the heart of their own families, about the dignity of married love, its role and its exercise, so that, having learned the value of chastity, they will be able at a suitable age to engage in honorable courtship and enter upon a marriage of their own. (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes 49 § 3)
1633 In many countries the situation
of a mixed marriage, (marriage
between a Catholic and a baptized
non-Catholic), often arises. It
requires particular attention
on the part of couples and their
pastors. A case of marriage with
disparity of cult (between a Catholic
and a non-baptized person) requires
even greater circumspection.
1634 Difference of confession
between the spouses does not constitute
an insurmountable obstacle for
marriage, when they succeed in
placing in common what they have
received from their respective
communities, and learn from each
other the way in which each lives
in fidelity to Christ. But the
difficulties of mixed marriages
must not be underestimated. They
arise from the fact that the separation
of Christians has not yet been
overcome. The spouses risk experiencing
the tragedy of Christian disunity
even in the heart of their own
home. Disparity of cult can further
aggravate these difficulties.
Differences about faith and the
very notion of marriage, but also
different religious mentalities,
can become sources of tension
in marriage, especially as regards
the education of children. The
temptation to religious indifference
can then arise.
1635 According to the law in force
in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage
needs for liceity the express
permission of ecclesiastical authority. (cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1124) In case of disparity of cult an
express dispensation from this
impediment is required for the
validity of the marriage. (cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1086) This
permission or dispensation presupposes
that both parties know and do
not exclude the essential ends
and properties of marriage; and
furthermore that the Catholic
party confirms the obligations,
which have been made known to
the non-Catholic party,
of preserving his or her own faith
and ensuring the baptism and education
of the children in the Catholic
Church. (cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 1125)
1636 Through ecumenical dialogue Christian communities in many regions have been able to put into effect a common pastoral practice for mixed marriages. Its task is to help such couples live out their particular situation in the light of faith, overcome the tensions between the couple's obligations to each other and towards their ecclesial communities, and encourage the flowering of what is common to them in faith and respect for what separates them.
1637 In marriages with disparity of cult the Catholic spouse has a particular task:
"For the unbelieving husband is consecrated through his wife, and the unbelieving wife is consecrated through her husband."
It is a great joy for the Christian spouse and for the Church if this "consecration" should lead to the free conversion of the other spouse to the Christian faith. (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:16) Sincere married love, the humble and patient practice of the family virtues, and perseverance in prayer can prepare the non-believing spouse to accept the grace of conversion.
I hope this helps.
If I've missed something, just reply.
Mike
John replied:
Hi, J.J. —
First, regarding Baptism, if your daughter did not receive Trinitarian Baptism, it
is most likely invalid, because a Sacrament must have the right form. However, that
does not relegate your daughter to the status of an unbeliever. The Church also teaches
that there is such a thing called baptism of desire. It sounds like your denomination
probably does not practice infant baptism; hence, your daughter professed faith and sought
a valid baptism. The fact that the church she attended did not provide her with a
valid Sacrament was not her doing. The assumption is that,
if she knew she needed
a Trinitarian Baptism for it to be valid, she would have sought one out.
So your daughter's desire to be a Christian is sufficient.
That said, she will have to be baptized in order to enter the fullness of the Catholic Church.
The annulment situation is entirely different. If the Church deems that the marriage
ceremony took the right form for a Christian marriage, then the Church will have
to investigate whether or not there were any other obstacles to her sacrament of
Marriage being valid.
It is entirely possible the denomination, in which she was married, does not consider
matrimony a sacrament. If that's the case, it seems to me that an annulment is not necessary,
because there was no intent to form a sacramental union as understood by the Church.
John
Mary
Ann replied:
J.J. —
There are many questions here, and Mike covered most
of them.
A few little points:
The infidelity and drug usage could have made her previous marriage invalid, if:
his drug use was unknown to her, or,
it had so harmed him such that he was not capable
of full consent, or,
his infidelity was a product of a faulty marital
intention, by which his concept and intention of marriage
was not forever, or not necessarily exclusive, at the time of the marriage.
If the new Catholic boyfriend does not get married in
the Church, his marriage will be invalid so the family's
concern is important. She shouldn't, of course, join the
Church just to please his family and she does not need
to join the Church to get a Declaration of Nullity.
As for her Baptism, rare is the Protestant denomination
that baptizes in the name of Jesus only, so be sure that
you are not relying simply on her memory. One should
consult the denominational rules to find out the usual
form for that denomination.
She can marry her Catholic boyfriend:
without becoming
Catholic, and,
without being baptized at all.
He just
needs to get dispensations from his bishop. She may
or may not need to establish the nullity of her previous
marriage.
Mary Ann
Fr. Nick
replied:
Mike,
This situation may actually work to the benefit of this
couple desiring to be married in the Catholic Church.
They should meet with their local pastor and ask if the "Pauline Privilege" could
be used as part of the process of bringing her into the Church, as well as allowing
a marriage without an annulment.
A Pauline Privilege is the dissolution of a purely
natural marriage which had been contracted between
two non-Christians, one of whom has since become a Christian. The Pauline Privilege is so-named
because it is based upon the apostle Paul's words
in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16.
In 1 Corinthians 7 Paul gives instructions concerning
problem marriages. In verses 10-11, he discusses sacramental
marriages: (marriages between two baptized people) and
indicates that they are indissoluble. It is possible
for a husband and wife in a sacramental marriage to separate,
but they cannot remarry. They must remain separated and
not attempt to marry again, or they must reconcile with
one another.
In verses 12-16 Paul gives instructions concerning the
thornier case of a couple who have only a natural marriage.
A sacramental marriage, one that communicates supernatural
grace, requires that both partners be baptized. If neither is or only one is, their union is only a natural one.
Sometimes one party to a natural marriage converts and
becomes a Christian, which can cause the marital problems
that Christians are expected to face (Luke 12:51-53,
18:29-30).
While natural marriages should be preserved if at all
possible (1 Corinthians 7:12-14, 16), they can be dissolved
in some cases. Paul tells us in verse 15 that if the
unbelieving spouse refuses to live with the Christian
partner, the unbeliever can be allowed to withdraw from
the marriage, leaving the Christian partner unbound,
free to remarry. The Pauline Privilege thus may apply
when the Church dissolves a natural marriage after one
partner has become Christian and there is a just cause,
such as the non-Catholic's refusal to live at peace with
the Christian partner.
The Pauline Privilege differs from an annulment because
it dissolves a real but natural marriage. An annulment
is a declaration that there never was a valid marriage
to begin with.
The Pauline Privilege does not apply when two baptized
people marry and later one quits being Christian. These
people had a sacramental marriage forged between them,
and this marriage is indissoluble, even if one partner
is failing to fulfill his marital responsibilities. In
that case 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, which concerns such
problem marriages, applies.
The Pauline Privilege also does not apply when a Christian
has married a non-Christian.
Someone in the Catholic
Answers Forum stated:
The Pauline Privilege states that the legitimate marriage,
even consummated, of unbaptized persons can be dissolved
in favor of one of them who subsequently receives the
sacrament of baptism. It is called the Pauline Privilege
because it was promulgated by St. Paul (1 Corinthians 7:12-15)
as a means of protecting the faith of converts. Requisites
for granting the privilege are:
marriage prior to
the baptism of either person
reception of baptism
by one person;
refusal of the unbaptized person
to live in peace with the baptized person and without
interfering with his or her freedom to practice the
Christian faith.
The privilege does not apply if the
unbaptized person agrees to these conditions.
A legitimate and consummated marriage of a baptized
and an unbaptized person can be dissolved by the Pope
in virtue of the Privilege of Faith, also called the Petrine Privilege.
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