The Requirements for a Mixed Marriage

"Pastoral experience, which the Catholic Church shares with other
religious bodies, confirms the fact that marriages of persons of
different beliefs involve special problems related to the
continuing religious practice of the concerned persons and to the
religious education and formation of the children.

"Pastoral measures to minimize these problems include instruction
of a non-Catholic party in essentials of the Catholic faith for
purposes of understanding. Desirably, some instruction should also
be given to the Catholic party regarding his or her partner's
beliefs.

Requirements

"The Catholic party to a mixed marriage is required to declare his
(her) intention of continuing practice of the Catholic faith and
to promise to do all in his (her) power to share his (her) faith
with the children born of the marriage by having them baptized and
raised as Catholics. No declarations or promises are required of
the non-Catholic party, but he (she) must be informed of the
declaration and promise made by the Catholic.

"Notice of the Catholic's declaration and promise is an essential
part of the application made to a bishop for (1) permission to
marry a baptized non-Catholic or (2) a dispensation to marry an
unbaptized non-Catholic.

"A mixed marriage can take place with a Nuptial Mass. (The [U.S.]
bishops' statement [on the subject] added this caution: 'To the
extent that Eucharistic sharing is not permitted by the general
discipline of the Church, this is to be considered when plans are
being made to have the mixed marriage at Mass or not.')

"The ordinary minister at a mixed marriage is an authorized priest
or deacon, and the ordinary place is the parish church of the
Catholic party. A non-Catholic minister may not only attend the
marriage ceremony but may also address, pray with, and bless the
couple.

"For appropriate pastoral reasons, a bishop can grant a
dispensation from the Catholic form of marriage and can permit the
marriage to take place in a non-Catholic church with a non-
Catholic minister as the officiating minister. A priest may not
only attend such a ceremony but may also address, pray with, and
bless the couple.

"'It is not permitted,' however, the [U.S.] bishops' statement
declared, 'to have two religious services or to have a single
service in which both the Catholic marriage ritual and a non-
Catholic marriage ritual are celebrated jointly or successively'"

(1995 Catholic Almanac [Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 1995],
233-4).

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