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Dear AskACatholic.com,
I am currently serving overseas in the United
States Navy.
I was engaged a few weeks prior
to entering the service. We began planning our
wedding, however due to the nature of the military
(i.e. being deployed with little notice) we did
not feel comfortable planning our wedding until
I finished my service. Our church also had a
two year wait.
When I got my overseas assignment, we found
out the only way my fiancé could move overseas
and possibly get a job was if we were legally
married. We had already tried dating long distance
but this put a strain on our relationship and
we thought it would be too difficult to be the distance of a
15-hour flight away from each other. We went
ahead and completed a civil marriage. We did
not inform our family or friends of our civil
marriage because we still dreamed of a Catholic
wedding. We never really considered the marriage
anything but a legal document to allow us to
be closer geographically since we did not complete
the sacrament of marriage. We are now planning
our wedding.
- Is it possible to still have a traditional Catholic
wedding ceremony or do we have to call it a renewal
of vows?
- Do we have to let everyone know we are already
married?
Thank you for your help.
Anonymous
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