Hi Marian,

You said:

• Can a Catholic can get married in a non-denominational church?
  
• Also can a priest perform the marriage in a non-denominational church?

If a Catholic is marrying a Catholic, No, because Holy Matrimony in the Catholic Church is a sacramental matter both have to marry in the Church. They could not get married in a
non-denominational church.

• What's the big deal, you may ask?

In Marriage as the Catechism states:

"The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." CCC 1601

The word sacrament comes from the Greek, meaning to swear an oath. Through the sacrament of Marriage the Lord bonds and swears an oath to assist the marital covenant and therefore the baptized man and woman in remaining faithful to the end of their lives.

If one truly wants a life-long commitment with their spouse, to me it would seem crazy not to want God's oath of assistance for the rest of your married life, especially with today's hostile culture against Christianity.

I have e-mailed some priest-friends for their comments.

Hope this helps,

Mike

Dear Marian:

When two Catholics get married, the normal place of marriage is the parish of the bride,
the parish of the groom, or a college or university chapel in which they attended. This could,
in fact, be a non-denominational chapel depending upon the college or university.

If a Catholic marries a non-Catholic Christian, the wedding can take place in the denomination of the other party, with permission of the bishop. A priest can be in attendance and participate, but is not required.

If a Catholic marries a non-baptized person, the wedding may take place in any public place: i.e., Boston Common, a hotel function room, presided over by a priest, rabbi, or other official.

Fr. Nick

Dear Marian,

I certainly understand the concern in your question, presuming you are the bride-to-be,
but nonetheless there is missing information from what you sent us.

I assume the basis of the question concerns the wedding ceremony of a Catholic and a baptized Christian [here I am assuming the Christian has been baptized with water and the words: I baptize you in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and that some sort of proof (certificate) could be given to witness that baptism] who is a member of a
non-denominational Church.

Given these assumptions — which I admit are assumptions based on what I could gather from the question — we have the following:

Marriage between two baptized Christians, the union of a husband and wife, is considered a sacrament by the Catholic Church.

However, if a Catholic marries a non-Catholic Christian spouse without the knowledge and blessings of the Church, the marriage would not be considered valid by the Church. Part of the process for having a valid marriage would include a marriage prep program which most, if not all, dioceses have called Pre-Cana. During the marriage prep. the priest would also ensure that both parties are really free to be married. The Catholic also would need to recognize their responsibility to raise any future children as Catholics and the Christian spouse would need to also recognize this and not interfere. Without seeing the priest and receiving this blessing no matter where the Catholic gets married, although legally married, the Catholic is not considered married by the Church.

If the blessing is received, then the couple could be married in a Catholic Church, or another Church — but this would need to be worked out through the priest. If the couple works with the Catholic priest, the priest could be present at the non-denominational church — of course with permission of the minister.

Given the fact that the couple has chosen the non-denominational church for their wedding,
the minister would be witnessing the vows.

I hope this has helped.

• Now what do I suggest?

Sit down with a priest face to face and speak to him about all your questions. But remember, you are not preparing primarily for a wedding ceremony but for marriage in the Lord for the rest of your lives — until death do you part.

Fr. Francis