If one is married by the state, say by a Justice of the Peace, is this marriage recongized by the church as a marriage before God?

-- Bill Black (onebraveheart@msn.com), July 02, 2003

Answers

Jmj

Hello, Bill.
The Catholic Church presumes that a "union" such as the one you describe is a valid marriage in the eyes of God ... if neither party is Catholic.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), July 03, 2003.

The Church's "presumption" of validity doesn't mean that the Church waives the requirements for validity where non-Catholics are concerned. It means that the Church does not investigate the marriages of persons who are not under its pastoral authority, unless there is specific reason to do so, and therefore "presumes" validity until such time as there is reason to actually investigate the details of the union. Such a reason would usually entail either a civilly-married couple entering the Church, or an intended Catholic marriage involving a civilly-married and divorced person. Once such a situation develops, and an actual tribunal investigation is carried out, the "presumed" validity is scrutinized, and may be either verified or rejected. This is roughly analygous to the principle of "innocent until proven guilty". "Presumed innocence" doesn't necessarily mean anyone thinks a person actually IS innocent. It just means that until evidence is presented to the contrary, we must act as though the person actually is innocent. Likewise the Church recognizes that many non-Catholic, and especially non-Christian forms of marriage are in fact defective. But the Church still treats those unions as valid until such time as the situation requires the formal presentation of evidence. Then an actual decision is made one way or the other, overriding the former general "presumption".

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 03, 2003.