Fr. Z’s Voice Mail & ASK FATHER: Catholic and Orthodox wedding question
I’ve been monitoring my voice mail. A question came in a while back which I can now treat.
Let’s have the audio…
This is an interesting question.
I’m a Latin Church, Catholic priest and not really qualified to speak about the specifics of Greek Orthodox Canon Law. However, we can make some observations about the Catholic Church’s law and practices.
A Latin Catholic who marries a Greek Orthodox requires (for liceity, not for validity) permission from the local ordinary for a mixed marriage.
If she chooses to marry in the Orthodox Church she requires (for liceity, not for validity) permission from the local ordinary for a wedding outside of the Catholic Church.
Traditional Catholic? Are you single? Don’t want to be?See the ad on the sidebar!
Those two permissions are, generally speaking, pretty freely given for these situations.
If the couple decides to marry in the Catholic Church, only the permission for mixed marriage is required (for liceity, not for validity – Can. 1124 – 1129).
Since the Eastern Churches – both those in communion with Rome and those separated from her – require the presence of a priest to provide a sacerdotal blessing to the couple as an essential element of marriage, a wedding between a Catholic and an Orthodox person are officiated by a priest, not a deacon.
Based on anecdotal evidence, it seems that a Greek Orthodox person who marries outside of the Orthodox Church is considered excommunicated by the Greek Orthodox Church, even though there was a joint statement by the USCCB (the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) and SCOBA (the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas) issued in 1990 (HERE) which appeared to show agreement and respect for each others’ beliefs and practices of marriage.
Even if that were the case, it would not affect the validity of the marriage from the Catholic perspective.
In virtue of can. 29 of the 1992 Eastern Code of Canon Law, children born to the marriage would be baptized into and ascribed to the Catholic Church of the mother. If the father later enters the Catholic Church, he would be ascribed to the Hellenic Greek Catholic Church (which does not have a hierarchy in the United States). Subsequently, any children baptized would either belong to the Hellenic Greek Catholic Church, or, if both parents agreed, to the Latin Church.
If I have placed my foot wrongly in this, I hope that knowledgeable Eastern Catholic and/or Orthodox clergy can help me out.
Wanna leave me voice mail? You have three options:
WDTPRS
020 8133 4535
651-447-6265
Since I pay a fee for the two phone numbers, USA and UK, I am glad when they get some use. I have occasionally thought about how to integrate the audio into posts, when there are good questions or comments, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.
TIPS for leaving voice mail.
- Don’t shout. If you shout, your voice will be distorted and I won’t be able to understand you.
- Don’t whisper. C’mon. If you have to whisper, maybe you should be calling the police, instead.
- Come to your point right away. That helps.
