In search for a Catholic Priest Officiant

I've always wondered why the church is so adamant that the sacrament of marriage has to happen in a church when other sacraments are not given that same requirement? I know I was baptized by a Catholic priest in the hospital on the day I was born since my parents weren't sure I would survive. I've gone to mass and received the Eucharist at places other than a church. And the anointing of the sick doesn't happen in the church.

There is a lot of blatant misinformation mixed with 'it sounds legit' here. The mere fact that a guy (and they are always guys) says they are a priest and can marry you means nothing. if the sacrament of marriage is important to you (and it may not be, honestly) than you do your research. Do I agree with all of the hoops you have to jump through? No, but I'm Unitarian, lol....

If you are going to bow to your GM's wishes, call your parish and get the straight story.

@LC; if a baby is in danger of not surviving, almost anyone can baptise that baby. Last rites can take place anywhere since presumably, the person in question cannot make it to the church.

You'll find plenty of officiants here in WW's directory professing to be "Old Catholic" priests who can do offsite weddings. There are also former Roman Catholic priests who left the cloth for whatever reason who still have legal dispensation to perform weddings outside of the church (my FSIL/FBIL had someone in the latter category officiate their wedding to appease FBIL's Catholic mother).

At the end of the day though, uber-Catholic grandma is going to hem and haw over any wedding not held in a Catholic church.

It seems to be that the only reason you're looking to have a catholic ceremony is to please your grandma. But like everyone else has mentioned, this can't really be done outside of church. And it really is a special sacrament, not to be taken lightly. So maybe you should explain to your grandma that it's not something you are looking to do. As it's not really something that anyone should be forced to do.

Perhaps when you've seen a real priest officiating outside, he is performing a 'ceremony' after having officiated the real wedding inside the church.

Perhaps when you've seen a real priest officiating outside, he is performing a 'ceremony' after having officiated the real wedding inside the church.

Perhaps when you've seen a real priest officiating outside, he is performing a 'ceremony' after having officiated the real wedding inside the church.

Someday when I have the time, I'll take a pic of the paperwork I have to fill out for couples to get married outside the church. You need pictures of the area, a letter from the priest and a long explanation justifying the ceremony area. Add the church seal, send it off to the Diocese and cross your fingers

Did you ever find a solution to this? This is my exact situation. And I learned that the Monterey diocese is strict about weddings outside of a church. What do you plan on doing?

Did you ever find a priest?

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Hello,

I am searching for a priest who can officiate an interfaith marriage. Can you please direct me in how to find one ?

Thank you so much in advance!!

In a nutshell, if you are looking for a legitimate Catholic priest to perform a marriage recognized by the church that does not take place inside a church, it’s going to be hard.
It will be even harder if you don’t have a priest already in mind who is invested in you as a couple enough to request a dispensation from the diocese for you.
A good compromise since you want an interfaith ceremony is to find a church that has closer traditions to the Catholic church - Episcopalian, Anglican, Lutheran - their ceremonies can be similar. It sounds harsh, but since a Catholic ceremony is a sacrament, it’s meant to have strict rules.