A - If you are both Catholic & have never been married before...

If you and your partner are both Catholic and neither of you have a previous marriage, you can establish your "freedom to marry" in the Catholic Church by bringing with you A NEWLY ISSUED AND DATED Baptismal certificate (NOT the original certificate that your parents may have.) This newly issued certificate must be obtained from the parish where you were baptized. (It is possible they will not mail it to you but only to the priest who is willing to assist you to make sure that no one tries to alter the document).

When a NEWLY ISSUED COPY of the Baptismal certificate is made, the special form has spaces for your baptismal information and your Confirmation and Marriage.  If you were previously married in the Church, this information will already be in the baptismal register and will be included on the NEWLY ISSUED COPY. But if you were never married in the Catholic Church, the space for recording your marriage will be "blank" and that information will be put on the newly issued copy and will become part of the “proof” that you were never married in the Catholic Church.

IMPORTANT - If either of you have a previous marriage, here is more information.