Traditionally, it was, because you were joining in false worship Later, there came about the idea of “passive attendance”…that it was ok to go to weddings or funerals so long as you didn’t actively participate in the service, out of respect for the people getting married/buried, but you still shouldn’t go without a good reason, because that might suggest that you consider the non-Catholic ceremony as valid. It could also lead to scandal, because other people might see that you’re attending a non-Catholic church and think that admitting to the correctness of their doctrine.
This is a little off topic, not not entirely, but look at the encyclical of Pius XI from 1928 called Mortalium animos, where he condemns the ecumenical movement.
It’s been a while, so I may be mis-remembering, but I thought I would have to convert to Catholicism to be married to my Catholic (but extremely lapsed) husband in a Catholic church by a Catholic priest. I’ve gone to a handful of Catholic wedding and funeral masses and participated in the ceremonies; the only admonition I received was to not take part in the Holy Communion because I’d get smote or something.
No, you do need to be baptized and I think (although I’ll defer to someone with more expertise) that is actually canon. So if you had water sprinkled over your head as a baby in a Baptist church - then became Buddhist, that’s good enough. But if you never got baptized at all, that’s a problem for having a sacramental marriage.
I’ve heard of priests or deacons doing non-sacramental marriages inside the Catholic church building when one party isn’t Catholic, and I think my childhood priest probably rolls over in his grave at the thought.
Capital-T traditional Catholics are certainly more judgemental that your garden-variety Catholic, and have a longer list of sins. Some Traditional Catholics are so far out there that the Church considers them to have put themselves outside the Church. The bunch over at Fisheaters is particularly bad. I wouldn’t cite anything from that site as evidence of what the Church teaches. That forum is a haven for sedevacantists, SSPX types, raving anti-Semites, the occasional white supremacist and loons of all stripes. It is most definitely not a Catholic site.
It’s interesting. My sister is about to be married to a non-Catholic, and SHE had to sign something stating that she would raise the kids Catholic, but he was not asked to sign it. I think the idea is that it’s the Catholic parent’s responsibility to do it, and they just ask the other parent to stay out of the way!
I know, but my point is, if sedevacanists and Traditional Catholics don’t consider dealing with non-Catholics a sin, mainstream Catholics certainly wouldn’t.
Pre-Vatican II, this was correct. You could marry a non-Catholic, and a priest would perform the wedding, but the wedding could not take place in a church, and there could be no one present beyond the 2 witnesses. My parents were married in a rectory in the early 50s for this very reason - my mother was a Baptist (I think). After Vatican II, you could get married in a church and have a full wedding Mass. The non-Catholic parent just had to agree to raise the kids Catholic.
My non-Catholic sister was married in a Catholic church by a Catholic priest. I think an individual priest can choose not to participate in solemnizing a mixed marriage, though. A Catholic friend of my dad’s did have to apply some pressure (he donates a lot of money to the church, and money talks, as it does everywhere) to get the priest in my parents’ hometown to perform the marriage.
They didn’t have a full Mass, though (I was a little disappointed- I kind of wanted to see it). I think a full Mass is unusual in mixed weddings.
I’m a non-Catholic who was married (more than 30 years ago) to a Catholic in a Catholic church by a Catholic priest, so (if it’s a sin) I’m responsible for a lot of people going to Purgatory.
This is because what makes the ceremony a full Mass is the Eucharist, and non-Catholics (with very few exceptions) are not permitted to partake of the Eucharist. It’d be rather odd, to say the least, to have the Eucharist when one of the two guests of honor, and likely half the other people in attendance, won’t be partaking.
The only time I would expect to see a full Mass at a mixed wedding would be if the non-Catholic spouse is of one of the sects which is relatively close, theologically, to the Catholics, and the priest and/or bishop questioned that spouse about es beliefs, and confirmed that e believed substantively the same thing as Catholics about the nature of the Eucharist; or if most of the non-Catholic spouse’s family were Catholic, and the non-Catholic spouse requested that it be a full Mass for their benefit.
My parents were married in 1957, in a Catholic church. My mother was Catholic, my father had a confusing mixed Protestant background. (He converted to Catholicism within a few years, but hadn’t started the process or even expressed an interest at that point.) They were definitely married in the church proper, with family and friends in attendance.
Not that his mother was happy about being there - I’ve seen the photos! - but she was definitely there
Huh. My parents were married in 1950 or 1951, and they definitely were married in the rectory, not the church. I specifically remember that because my mother loved to tell the story of how her soon-to-be-MIL called her a few months before the wedding and pleaded with/threatened her to convert to Catholicism. I always assumed it was a Vatican 2 thing, but maybe it was up to the priest or bishop at the time.
Even when both families are Catholic, many people opt out of a full mass, in my experience. A wedding is a long deal, and the Eucharist adds another 15 minutes to the pomp and circumstance.
Back when daily mass was a big deal, getting the Eucharist in meant that people could kill two birds with one stone. There just aren’t that many daily mass participants any longer.
OK, so they’re obligated to go to Mass once a week. Is there an obligation to go every day at some times, or for some people? Or is it just something some Catholics do or did, without being obligated to do it?
