{"id":153373,"date":"2021-06-11T09:30:54","date_gmt":"2021-06-11T13:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-whats-the-big-deal-about-a-wedding-in-a-church\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:03:30","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:03:30","slug":"ask-a-priest-whats-the-big-deal-about-a-wedding-in-a-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-whats-the-big-deal-about-a-wedding-in-a-church\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: What\u2019s the Big Deal About a Wedding in a Church?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I am having a conflict with the Church about its policy that a Catholic wedding should only take place within a church building regardless of whether it is a nuptial Mass or just the wedding ceremony. I know of at least two young couples who have used non-Catholic ministers for their wedding ceremonies because they could not get the Church’s approval for the ceremonies outside of a church setting. I was lost to give them a reasonable explanation. Why is the church building so important? Is it not the ceremony that is most important? Where were weddings held in the early Church when there were no church buildings? I really cannot see the logic nor the rationale for this policy. We will continue to lose young people over this as more and more opt to be married by non-Catholic ministers — with all the repercussions that this has on their marriage, baptism of children, etc., etc. I just don’t get it! \u2013 J.M.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0Thanks for your concern about these young couples. It might help to realize that the Church is concerned about them too.<\/p>\n

Since a Catholic wedding usually involves a sacramental marriage, it is fitting that it be held in a religious venue.<\/p>\n

The Church as custodian of the sacraments has authority, given by Christ, to stipulate the conditions for when and where and how the sacraments are to be administered.<\/p>\n

A sacred venue for a wedding helps people to understand the spiritual dimension of what the couple are entering into.<\/p>\n

Now, for a couple to attempt an invalid marriage because of a disagreement over the venue of a wedding indicates a deeper problem.<\/p>\n

Perhaps their catechesis was weak. Or perhaps they simply don’t believe that Jesus is working through his Church to guide us.<\/p>\n

If that is the case, the solution is not to water down what the Church has established — and really, it’s not such a heavy demand that Catholics marry in a church or chapel — but rather to help the couple understand their faith better.<\/p>\n

My guess is that the Church has lost more young people over the years because of weak catechesis than from norms about where weddings should be celebrated.<\/p>\n

For the record, it is possible for a couple to marry outside of a Catholic venue, but it requires a bishop’s permission. That kind of permission is usually granted only for serious reasons.<\/p>\n

You might want to pray these couples find their way back to the right path.<\/p>\n

You might also point young couples to our \u201cThree Hearts<\/a>: A Retreat Guide on the Sacrament of Marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest@rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com<\/a> and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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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 & 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\/153373","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=153373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153373\/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=153373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153373"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}