Getting married in a Catholic Church even though my husband was previously married civilly..

Generally, the Catholic church only validates Catholic marriages. I think you're OK. It will be hard to wait, but only the church can answer for certain. If they say no, try another. Some are more strict than others.

I thought the same thing and I’m so nervous because it means so much to me to be married in this church because my grandparents got married here. I also already have invitations printed with this church on it so it would be a whole difficult process to change churches. I wish I thought about this sooner I’m trying to google but I can’t get a straight answer because everyone’s case is different. Thank you though!

That is something that depends on the priest. He can say no if your husband is divorced. I am sorry. It all depends on the priest.

Ask the priest. I remember when I was about to marry my ex (15 years ago), the priest said he could give us a blessing but it wouldn’t be a sacrament because he was previously married.

I think I can help you here. Calm down lol. But if he got married through the catholic church can the ceremony not happen. That's when he has to go through the annulment through the church. If he was married through the court, hes fine. So dont worry. Be happy he never got married through the church. My fiance did get married through the catholic church and had to get an annulment. It took a few months but he did it. I would get mad at him and wish he got married through the court lol. So you're fine.

When you met with the priest, didn't he ask all if these questions (prior marriages, etc?).....I'm surprised that wasn't part of the conversation. And, putting aside your husband's prior marriage for a second, does the priest know you're already married now? Things may vary by diocese, but I would be surprised if they would conduct a full wedding mass, versus a blessing of your union.

In any event, I'm not sure what has triggered your sudden worry, but I think it's time to lay out all of the facts to the priest and verify that everything is cool. I'm not sure why you didn't do that in the first place.

View Quoted Comment Lol thank you! You definitely eased my worries

View Quoted Comment This was the initial meeting he didn’t ask us much other than the date and what we thought about our union and relationship. He then told us to schedule our pre Cana with his secretary then afterwards will be meeting him again which is when i assume he’ll be asking those questions. And yes he does know we have a child together and that we got married through the courts and he was actually happy we decided to raise him Catholic and get married in God’s house. I wasn’t worried thinking that since he didn’t get married in church the Catholic Church might not consider it valid but once we left I began googling and couldn’t get a straight answer, that’s when I began to worry.

View Quoted Comment Oh wow! Was he previously married in the church?

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He certainly would not have told you to sign up for pre-cana if he didn't think he could marry you. That's a lot of work for nothing. if there was a problem he would have said something at the initial meeting for sure. In our initial meeting, we needed to provide documentation that we had been baptised, and signed papers that we had both not been married before (obviously that is not the case for you and he knows that already). If he didn't ask if either of you had been baptised then i would ask him about that but if he had questions about the previous marriage he definitely would have said it before he told you to go through the whole pre-cana process! I wouldn't stress over it!

Thank you for easing my worries. He said that after pre Cana we were going to be meeting him again to discuss i guess if either of us were married before and the next steps which I’m surprised he didn’t do in the initial meeting. I know I should have asked him or ran it by him I was intimidated and so nervous honestly it didn’t occur to me until we left.

View Quoted Comment No he wasn’t, but now that I think about it neither one of us had our sacraments either.

My now husband and I are only married civilly and are preparing for our sacraments for our church wedding. Yesterday was our last catechism class. I do remember the deacon asking if either of us are married and asked for our updated baptism certificates, as those show if you have been married through church. I think you will be okay. 😊

P.S.... we’re almost date twins! You’re getting married the day before me. 😍

View Quoted Comment November weddings are the best 😘 lol I’m so nervous and this I really hope he doesn’t turn us down. Thank you!

Supposed to be as long as he was never married in catholic church he should be good.

View Quoted Comment That’s what I thought but wasn’t 100% sure. Thank you!

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Yes! Most of the time the priests are just happy they are being able to marry another couple into the Catholic church. When we went and talked to ours about getting married--- He counseled us and made sure this is what we wanted. He knows that I had two kids before my relationship with my FH. However... my FH has been in the kiddos lives for 7 years. Since my youngest was 2 and oldest was 3.5. now their 8 (soon to be 9) and 10 (soon to be 11). I thought he was going to say no because of that... But, he didn't and he gave us his blessing to be able to get married. If you want a definite answer- Call the priest. Ours gave us his cell so if we had any questions we could call and ask.

The church knows you're already married to each other, right? I've never hear of a catholic church in the US (maybe youre outside the US) that will marry you if you are already married, even to each other. They MAY issue a validation, but they would not allow a full wedding ceremony if you are already married. Just make sure your priest knows the whole story.

I won’t pretend to know much about catholic ceremonies but I think it depends on each parish. To ease your anxiety I will tell you that my parents were married at city hall and divorced, and my When my dad remarried, they remarried in a Catholic Church. My dads wife was also previously married. So it is possible.

Hi all! Just wanted to keep you updated the Church ended up not having an issue with it. They just asked for a copy of our marriage license but other than that they said it wouldn’t be a problem. Thank you all!