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Laurie,
You are right, the one to ask is a parish pastor. Just call and make an
appointment. Your son can be baptized if the Church has assurance that
he will be raised Catholic. The Church will ask your boyfriend to start
working toward getting his Catholic act together (get validly
married, or decide to live with you as brother and sister).
If you wish to become Catholic, you will go through RCIA and be baptized
at the end of it (if you are not already). If you are already baptized
validly in another denomination, then you will make a profession of faith.
Our profession of faith is also a profession of the way we live, so you
will be asked, like your boyfriend, to live:
- as a Catholic, i.e. get validly married, (as you
both show an interest in) or
- separate: living as brother and sister, because sexual
relations outside of marriage are against God's plan for the human person
If you go to theologyofthebody.net,
you will find good inspirational resources for Catholic marriage and sexuality.
Since you say you have a previous marriage, that marriage would have to
be looked at by the Church to be sure it was not valid: the Church doesn't
want to be blessing bigamy!
In other words, you and your boyfriend cannot marry in the Church until
the previous marriage is found to be null. That may or may not be a simple
matter, but with prayer and a heart open to God's will, you will both find
your path.
In the meantime, while the marriage is being examined, you and your boyfriend
should try to live celibately in honor of God's law and in honor of yourselves
and in order to best prepare for marriage. The Church understands that
for the good of the child, the parents often ought to continue living together.
- Pray together
- encourage your boyfriend to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation,
and
- keep attending Mass.
God bless you,
Mary Ann
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