# Does the Roman Catholic Church recognize marriages outside the church? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242 "2009-05-04T02:39:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/21 "2009-05-04T21:12:45Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > We were instructed in marriage preparation classes that this was to indicate that we would raise children to be \*Christian \*(I was RC, intended husband was Presbyterian). There was a time when the non-Catholic half had to agree to make RC sprog, but that is no longer the case. Really? 1635 According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage needs for liceity the express permission of ecclesiastical authority.137 In case of disparity of cult an express dispensation from this impediment is required for the validity of the marriage.138 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**. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/22 "2009-05-05T02:50:32Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > In an exercise to best prepare a couple for marriage, they don’t go through the actual ceremony, complete with what promises and vows that ceremony entails? I really find that hard to believe - but I’ll take your word on it since I’m not married. Why is it hard to believe? They are _marriage_ preparation classes, not _wedding_ preparation classes. You’ll have a meeting with the celebrant, and probably a wedding rehearsal, to ensure the wedding goes as it should, but this is quite separate from the marriage preparation classes. > [@Munch](#): > > I know that Pre-Cana classes vary by diocese. I’m sure there are some out there that wouldn’t mention the small detail of promising to raise your kids within the Catholic Church - a promise that certainly gets lost in the extremely long list of promises you make before a couple exchanges their vows during the ceremony. (And by “extremely long” I mean “three”.) My brother and his wife teach Pre-Cana - I’ll give him a call tonight to see how they did it in his parish. I am the Catholic half of an interfaith marriage. I was required to express the aspiration to raise our children as Catholics. I was also required to assure the church authorities that my wife knew of my aspiration. Nothing was required of my wife in this regard. And none of this arose in the context of marriage preparation classes, but rather in the context of arranging the wedding with the celebrant. (Issues surrounding the raising of children are certainly discussed in the marriage preparation classes, but no-one is required to give any kind of commitment or come up with the “right answer” – that’s not what the classes are about.) ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/23 "2009-05-05T03:06:00Z")
> [@Tomczyk](#): > > A friend of mine was married in the Greek Orthodox chuch and subsequently divorced. Apparently, the RCC recognized this marriage because he had to get it annulled before he could marry his current wife, who is Catholic. Not 100% sure, but it seems to me that the Catholic Church recognizes all sacraments of the Orthodox Church as valid. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/24 "2009-05-05T03:30:02Z")
To go back to the OP: > [@alphaboi867](#): > > If a couple married in an Anglican Church and later divorced would one of them be able remarry in the RCC without getting an annulment (ie would the first marriage be considered valid)? What about other Protestant denominations? Civil marriages? Non-Christian marriages? It depends. A Catholic is required either to marry in a Catholic ceremony, or to obtain a dispensation from this requirement (a “dispensation from canonical form”) in order to marry in a non-Catholic ceremony. Failure to do one of these things results in an invalid marriage. So, if either (or both) of the parties to the Anglican ceremony was a Catholic, and did not obtain a dispensation from canonical form, then the Anglican ceremony is (in Catholic eyes) invalid, and an annulment will readily be obtained, enabling either of the parties to marry someone else in a Catholic ceremony. Same goes for other protestant ceremonies, civil ceremonies, etc. However, if neither of them were Catholics, or if one was but a dispensation was obtained, then the Anglican marriage is, on the face of it, valid, and a second marriage in a Catholic church will not be possible. (Unless, of course, an annulment of the first marriage can be obtained on some _other_ basis – lack of capacity, lack of due discretion, etc). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/25 "2009-05-05T05:13:36Z")
> [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > To my knowledge, no. The Church does not recognize any marriages not performed under its requirements. This answer is rather vague about what is “performed under its requirements”. Basically, the Roman Catholic Church recognizes sacraments (including marriage) that are performed within the Church, and in Churches that are “in Communion” with Rome. This includes about 2 dozen churches, many of them very small: [ul] [li]Chaldean Catholic Church (Syria & Iraq),[/li][li]Coptic Catholic Church,[/li][li]Ethiopian Catholic Church,[/li][li]Greek Catholic Church,[/li][li]Maronites (Syriac Eastern Catholic Church),[/li][li]Russian Catholic Church,[/li][li]Ruthenian Orthodox,[/li][li]Syro-Malabar Catholic Church,[/li][li]Syro-Malanka Catholic Church.[/li][li]Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church,[/li][li]and various others.[/li][/ul] Note that this does not include many of the larger Eastern Rite Churches, such as the Greek Orthodox Church or Russian Orthodox Churches – they are not formally “in Communion with” the Roman Catholic Church. But many priests seem to give some recognition to sacraments in these churches, though I don’t know what the official church position is. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/26 "2009-05-05T06:15:33Z")
OK, the churches you list are all particular churches _within_ the Roman Catholic Church (as is the Latin church, the one with which most of us are most familiar). In addition there are non-Catholic churches – mostly Orthodox/Eastern – whose priestly ministry is regarded as valid by the Catholic Church and whose Eucharist is therefore regarded as valid. When it comes to the sacrament of marriage, however, in the Catholic view the ministers of the sacrament are the spouses themselves, and any couple both of whom are baptised (not necessarily as Catholics) can enter into a valid sacramental marriage. You don’t intrinsically need a priest, so the validity of priestly ministry is not relevant. However, in the context of the OP sacramental validity is not really the issue. When it comes to marriage, Catholic theology makes a distinction between “sacramental marriage” (only possible between two baptised persons) and “natural marriage”. Both are real marriages, as far as Catholicism is concerned. So, if two unbaptised persons marry in a 5-minute registry office ceremony, that is, on the face of it, a valid natural marriage, and it is an impediment to either of the couple marrying someone else in a Catholic ceremony. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/27 "2009-05-05T07:38:09Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Both are real marriages, as far as Catholicism is concerned. So, if two unbaptised persons marry in a 5-minute registry office ceremony, that is, on the face of it, a valid natural marriage, and it is an impediment to either of the couple marrying someone else in a Catholic ceremony. Isn’t there something, in that case, called the Pauline privilege? If the one non baptized person converts to Christianity? I’m not entirely familiar with it, though, so I’m hoping you can fill me in. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/28 "2009-05-05T07:51:06Z")
Great summary, **UDS**. > [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Isn’t there something, in that case, called the Pauline privilege? If the one non baptized person converts to Christianity? Yes, the Pauline Privilege is when a non-sacramental (i.e. natural) marriage between two non-baptised persons is considered automatically dissolved when, after the parties’ separation and divorce, one of them accepts Christian baptism (Catholic or otherwise) and enters a subsequent marriage. In such a case the act of contracting the second marriage is itself considered to dissolve the first marriage. This privilege in canon law is based on the teaching of Saint Paul found in 1 Corinthians 7:12-15 whereby he allowed Christians to enter a second marriage if their non-Christian spouses had departed and refused to live peacefully with the Christian party. This highlights the key distinction between sacramental and natural marriages. A valid, sacramental marriage, once consummated, cannot be dissolved by any earthly power. A valid natural marriage can be dissolved, by either the Pauline Privilege or the Petrine Privilege (which relates to the dissolution of a non-sacramental marriage between an unbaptised person and a Christian (Catholic or otherwise)). ---
**Author:** ![Solfy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Solfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Solfy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/29 "2009-05-05T14:57:26Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Really? > > 1635 According to the law in force in the Latin Church, a mixed marriage needs for liceity the express permission of ecclesiastical authority.137 In case of disparity of cult an express dispensation from this impediment is required for the validity of the marriage.138 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**. If a dispensation was needed in our case, it was put through by our priest with no notice taken by either of us. My husband merely had to furnish a baptismal certificate from his church. Our classes were held as meetings between us an my parish priest. The question of raising children Catholic was one of great concern for my husband, who felt that they should be allowed to choose (and I agreed), and it never came up, to his relief. Variations in classes may be due to local diocesan differences, or even by the person leading the classes. A friend of mine in a neighboring state had a priest tell her and her fiance that he didn’t agree with the rules regarding birth control either and that they should do what they think is best. That is in clear violation of church law, and yet that is what he said, though he did make it clear that he was speaking for himself and not with the authority of the church. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2009, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242/30 "2009-05-05T20:21:04Z")
> [@Solfy](#): > > A friend of mine in a neighboring state had a priest tell her and her fiance that he didn’t agree with the rules regarding birth control either and that they should do what they think is best. That is in clear violation of church law, and yet that is what he said, though he did make it clear that he was speaking for himself and not with the authority of the church. Not really. There is something in Canon Law called, I think, the "sanctity of the Conscience which says that if you have sincerely examined your conscience, prayed to God for inspiration, and reached a conclusion that in your specific situation is different from the general church teaching, you can legitimately follow the dictates of your conscience. This seems to be a pretty wide loophole, actually. And among the clergy, I think it’s treated rather like Judges & lawyers treat ‘jury nullification’ – we know it exists, and is allowed; but we never mention it, and we hope it never comes up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-roman-catholic-church-recognize-marriages-outside-the-church/495242.md?page=1)