{"id":145502,"date":"2024-07-16T09:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-16T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-i-dont-want-my-kids-raised-as-catholics\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T11:29:37","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T15:29:37","slug":"ask-a-priest-what-if-i-dont-want-my-kids-raised-as-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-what-if-i-dont-want-my-kids-raised-as-catholics\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Ask a Priest: What If I Don&#8217;t Want My Kids Raised as Catholics?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote>\n<address>Q: I am a Protestant, and my boyfriend is a Catholic. We want to get married. Is such a union possible? Can we be married first by a Protestant minister and then by a Catholic priest in his church? And if I do not give consent to raising children in Catholicism, will we be married? I want children to choose their own path to God. \u2013 M.K.<\/p>\n<p class=\"m-4021602221989404838ydp69645e4cyiv5078300124ydpfd2d5a57yiv0421283852ydp3cd5237dmsonormal\" style=\"margin: 0in; margin-bottom: .0001pt; line-height: 115%;\">\n<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A:\u00a0The Catholic Church does allow Catholics to marry non-Catholics, but it requires the expressed permission of the bishop. A bishop could also give permission for a wedding in a non-Catholic setting, but that would require a serious reason.<\/p>\n<p>One of the requirements for the Catholic partner in this case is to promise to raise the children in the Catholic faith. The non-Catholic must be made aware of the partner&#8217;s responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>This is something you might want to talk over with your boyfriend. You and he would also need to be open and honest if you object to the children being raised Catholic.<\/p>\n<p>You mention that you want children \u201cto choose their own path to God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It is good to remember that children are like blank slates. They need guidance in religion just as they need guidance in everything else in life, from food to clothing to good manners to education.<\/p>\n<p>If they aren&#8217;t raised in any faith, they won&#8217;t be well-equipped to make a good decision regarding Our Lord.<\/p>\n<p>Not teaching them about Jesus is like not teaching them to read and write. If you wait for them to decide on their own, it might be too late.<\/p>\n<p>All Christians are called to bring the Gospel message to others, beginning with their children. Indeed, to <em>not<\/em> teach children about Jesus deprives them of the most important thing in life.<\/p>\n<p>The Catechism of the Catholic Church in No. 2685 states:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Christian family is the first place of education in prayer. Based on the sacrament of marriage, the family is the \u2018domestic church\u2019 where God&#8217;s children learn to pray \u2018as the Church\u2019 and to persevere in prayer. For young children in particular, daily family prayer is the first witness of the Church&#8217;s living memory as awakened patiently by the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It might be good to speak directly with a Catholic pastor. A dialogue could help dispel some of your concerns.<\/p>\n<p>You might want to take this to prayer. And again, be open with your boyfriend and with anyone who might prepare you for marriage.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q: I am a Protestant, and my boyfriend is a Catholic. We want to get married. Is such a union possible? 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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith &amp; Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145502"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=145502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}