Is it a sin to recieve the Body and Blood of Christ if you are not married by the church? I've been baptized, I've made my first holy communion and i have also been confirmed. I have been a catholic all my life and i feel that i should be able to recieve the Body and blood of Christ even if i wasn't married by the church. Please answer my question A.S.A.P!

-- Angela Jean Montoya (maaam@plateautel.net), February 24, 2002

Answers

Jmj

I won't beat around the bush, Angela Jean.
The answer is, "Yes, it is a sin -- an extremely serious one known as a sacrilege."

As a lifelong Catholic, you know very well that you need to have your marriage blessed by the Catholic Church. Right now, you are not actually married in the eyes of God. Rather, you are in a sinful cohabitation (either adultery or fornication), which means that you cannot receive the sacraments.

Why not go and talk this over with your Catholic pastor tomorrow? Jesus does not want you to be separated from him as you are now. You need reconciliation and intimate communion with him. You don't need more sin.

St. James, pray for us.
God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

John,

How come such a marriage must be annuled if it were to end early in a seperation? Doesn't the Church see all marriages between baptized Christians as valid. This seems to oppose the living in sin idea you mention. How can a valid marriage also be one of sin? I am new to this and need clarification I think. Also this from EWTN:

"Answer by Fr. Robert J. Levis on 01-31-2002: Dear Nicole, All prior marriages, civil or non-Catholic, must be investigated and annuled before any Catholic marriage may take place. The Church recognizes as valid the marriage of two Protestants whether before a minister or civilly. God bless. Fr. Bob Levis "

EWTN link

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), February 26, 2002.

Hi, Mike.

Please take another look at Angela's message. She did not mention anything about separation.
If she were to get separated, she would be free to return to the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist immediately. However, if she wanted to marry a Catholic man in the future, not only would she need a civil divorce (to satisfy the laws of the state), but she would need a Decree of Nullity from the Church, declaring that she was never really married to begin with (having disobeyed Canon Law).
You see, Angela may know that she never left the Church (and is therefore "living in sin"), but the Church does not "know" that until the tribunal reads that testimony from her and then acts on it.

Now does it all make sense, or have I still confused you?
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 27, 2002.

Yes John, clear and thank you, but my expression of my thought is weak I think. Perhaps it is the terminology tripping me up.

It sounds odd that a "valid" marriage can also be a sinful marriage.

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), February 27, 2002.

Well, Mike, it can't be both. A "union" is one or the other -- valid or invalid (and therefore sinful).
The problem is that one that is invalid (in God's eyes) must nevertheless remain "presumptively valid" in our eyes until a tribunal determines otherwise.
Please ask more, if it's still not clear. This is very important, and I know that you are genuinely interested.
JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 27, 2002.

Oh my goodnes John - to have read your holier then thou reply to one asking for consoling is shameful. I always thought Love forgives a multitude of sins but then I am only a simple minded Christian.

-- Jean Bouchard (jeanb@cwk.imag.net), February 28, 2002.

You may both be half-right.

My answer to this lady would have been simply:

Just don't receive the sacrament of the Eucharist; and the other aspect, your ''valid'' but non-Catholic marriage can be approached separately. It will be on your conscience until your truly Catholic wedding.

But adding to this the sin of taking Our Lord's Body and Blood for granted (I didn't say sacrilege); compounds your problems. Jesus Christ deserves your complete love and respect. If you assist at Mass, simply make an act of love for Him. You may do so in a perfect spiritual communion, nothing is barring you from that.

In this way, Jesus always blesses you from His infinite love and mercy. In time He will help you resolve the problem of your marital state. You must have faith, or you wiil be lost!

-- eugene c. chavez (chavezec@pacbell.net), February 28, 2002.

John,

Thank You for you clear reply. I suppose it was in part the word "presumptively" that is assumed.

Let me give a situation. If a Baptist and a Catholic are married with a Baptist minister as witness and in a Baptist Church. (I am not picking on Baptists, it is just a short word to type, much shorter than Presbyterian and easier to spell too!) Is it right to say, this would be a "presumptively valid" marriage? So what would the Catholic have to talk to his priest about?

Maybe the marriage would need a Catholic blessing to be in good standing with the Church? Maybe the marriage was actually invalid and could never become valid? Would the Catholic have to go to confession for not consulting with a priest prior to getting married? If a "presumptively valid" marriage upgraded to a "valid" marriage, would it also be termed "sacramental" without any additonal Church involvement?

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), February 28, 2002.

Jmj

Thanks, Jean Bouchard. I always know that I am on the right track if I am rebuked by you.

Mike, about your hypothetical situation ...
You wrote: "If a Baptist and a Catholic are married with a Baptist minister as witness and in a Baptist Church ... [I will assume that you mean also, 'without the Catholic bishop's permission'] ... Is it right to say, this would be a 'presumptively valid' marriage?"without sworn testimony to a tribunal, if the Catholic became an ex-Catholic, renouncing his religion just before the wedding. If the Catholic became a Baptist just before the wedding, then the marriage could well be valid.

You continued: "Maybe the marriage would need a Catholic blessing to be in good standing with the Church?
True. If the Catholic never formally left the Church before the wedding, then he/she needs to ask the Church to bless the wedding, making it a licit (legal) and valid (we hope) mixed marriage. Until the union is blessed it is both illicit and invalid.

"Maybe the marriage was actually invalid and could never become valid?" That could be true.

"Would the Catholic have to go to confession for not consulting with a priest prior to getting married?" Yes. If done with full knowledge and wilful consent, it was a mortal sin.

"If a 'presumptively valid' marriage upgraded to a 'valid' marriage, would it also be termed 'sacramental' without any additonal Church involvement?" Every valid marriage between two baptized persons is a sacramental marriage, including (for example) a marriage between a Fundamentalist and a Methodist. I would not say that the Church upgrades a "presumptively valid but illicit" marriage to a "valid marriage" -- but rather to a "presumptively valid and licit" marriage. Only a tribunal can state whether or not a marriage is truly valid or invalid.

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 28, 2002.

Jmj

[Mike, my first paragraph to you got messed up by an HTML error. Let me try again.]

You wrote: "If a Baptist and a Catholic are married with a Baptist minister as witness and in a Baptist Church ... [I will assume that you mean also, 'without the Catholic bishop's permission'] ... Is it right to say, this would be a 'presumptively valid' marriage?"

If they were otherwise free to marry, this would be presumptively valid, because we have no way of knowing, without sworn testimony to a tribunal, if the Catholic became an ex-Catholic, renouncing his religion just before the wedding. If the Catholic became a Baptist just before the wedding, then the marriage could well be valid.

John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 28, 2002.

Thank You John,

That cleared up a lot. That was new to me. It seems like a big problem today is this situation: without a blessing from the Church, a Catholic who never left the Church, gets married to a non-Catholic.

It sounds like making the marriage licit in the eyes of the church is a minor affair but there could be real snags in attempting to make such a marriage valid.

What kind of snags might such a couple encounter in making their marriage "licit" with the Catholic Church? And what might block them from making their marriage "valid" with the Catholic Church?

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), February 28, 2002.

Mike, you wrote: "It seems like a big problem today is this situation: without a blessing from the Church, a Catholic who never left the Church, gets married to a non-Catholic."

Yes, you are right. This can happen for one of a few reasons:
1. Most commonly, one or both of the people has been married and divorced, and (due to impatience or lack of respect for the authority of the Church) they don't want to go through the nullity process. Instead, they go through the motions of a wedding and are now just "shacking up" in God's eyes, committing adultery.
2. The non-Catholic is either anti-Catholic or has at least one anti-Catholic parent, so they don't want to be married in a Catholic ceremony. Foolishly, they do not find out that the Catholic bishop can permit then to be licitly married in a non-Catholic ceremony. They are just "shacking up" until they go and seek the Church's blessing of their marriage.
3. The Catholic has never formally left his religion, but he/she is not actively practicing and is registered in no parish in which to be married. They too are just "shacking up."

You then asked: "What kind of snags might such a couple encounter in making their marriage 'licit' with the Catholic Church? And what might block them from making their marriage '[presumptively] valid' with the Catholic Church?"
In cases #2 and #3, there should be no major snags. Having approached the Catholic pastor about the validation of their union, they may need to go through their diocese's pre-marriage training (often six months). But in case #1, they must go through one or more nullity processes to determine if, in fact, they are free to be married to each other.

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), February 28, 2002.

That takes care of that. Thanks again. I see it really boils down to people accepting, "what God has joined let no man tear apart". Other than a previous valid marriage, nothing much gets in the way. And I agree with the Church on that. If a couple wants to hate us because they are not allowed to commit adultery then they are clearly opposing God in his Church.

God Bless You

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), March 01, 2002.

What if a non-Catholic Christian marries a non-baptized person. Later, the Christian becomes a Catholic. So now a Catholic and a "pagan" are wed. Let's assume they are clean concerning previous marriages although I am not sure that they are.

Can the marriage be blessed by the Church in any way?

Can the Catholic go to communion?

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), March 09, 2002.

Hi, Mike.

The marriage you mentioned is presumed by the Church to be a valid, natural (non-sacramental) marriage right from the wedding day.
There is not any need for a new "validation" of the marriage.
The Catholic convert can receive Holy Communion.
God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 10, 2002.

Thanks John, as I have a good friend in this situation.

-- Mike H (michael.hitzelberger@vscc.cc.tn.us), March 11, 2002.