My husband was a baptized Catholic, and his late wife was a baptized non-Catholic Christian. They were married in a protestant church ceremony, and he was not a practising Catholic for the duration of their marriage.

I was a baptized non-Catholic Christian, as was my late husband. We were married in a civil ceremony.

My husband and I were married by a protestant minister. I encouraged my husband to return to the Catholic faith, which he did, and I, in turn, converted to Catholicism.

This sounds confusing, but my question is this.....are we married in the eyes of the Catholic Church?

-- Carol (CarolR@noemail.com), May 18, 2004

Answers

Okay, the Church will presume that both your previous marriages were valid (though there would be a question into that concerning your husband's first marriage). However, since both your previous spouses died (you said late) and you did not divorce before that, valid or invalid, you are both free to marry. So from what you have said, your previouse marriages are not an obsticle. (Your husband might want to look into the matter of his previous marrige to find out if it was invalid. That way, if it is he could take that to confession.)

However, your current marriage is the issue. You indicate that your husband was and is a Catholic, though not practising at the time of your marriage. A person who calls himself a Catholic, even just nominally, is bound by Church law. The law says that you need to marry 'in the Church'. So your current marriage is tenious. Do not worry though, since you were free to marry, you should be able to get your marriage blessed by the Church. Talk to your preist, tell him that you want to get your situation 'regularized', and it should be a simple matter.

Without more info that is the best that I can offer. There are folks here much more knowedgable about this particular issue than I am, so they will correct any mistakes I have made. Anyway, the next step is talk to your preist. They are accustomed to these sorts of realities (especially in this era of marital mix-up). he will be able to help you.

God Bless,

Dano

-- Dan Garon (boethius61@yahoo.com), May 18, 2004.

Thank you, Dan.

-- Carol (CarolR@noemail.com), May 20, 2004.

Dan's answer is correct; I'm guessing that is why there were no other comments. You are not currently married in the eyes of the Catholic Church, but this can easily be remedied by scheduling a convalidation of your marriage with your priest.

-- Mark (aujus_1066@yahoo.com), May 20, 2004.