What if one of us is not Catholic or is not a member of the Christian tradition?

If one of you is a Catholic and the other is a Protestant or Muslim or Jew, you may be concerned about how the Catholic Church will look upon your relationship if you choose to marry.  Prior to 1964, the Catholic Church tried to discourage such couples from marriage or allowed the marriage to take place only if the partner who is not a member of the Catholic Church agreed to raise the children in the Catholic Faith.  Today, however, the Catholic Church has developed a new approach to couples who share different Faith traditions.  I trust you will find this approach to be welcoming, understanding, and helpful.  Key points of this new approach:

• The Catholic Church respects/affirms the conscience & beliefs of each person.  While the Catholic Church is open to membership to all persons, the Church does not attempt to force anyone to become Catholic when he/she plans to marry a Catholic.
   
• The Catholic Church affirms the right & responsibility of a Catholic parent to pass on his/her Faith to his/her children within the unity of the marriage partnership; the Church equally honors the right & responsibility of the partner who is not a member of the Catholic Church to do the same.  The partner who is not a member of the Catholic Church is not required to promise to raise the children in the Catholic Faith.
   
• The marriage can be celebrated in either the church of the bride or the church of the groom.  This decision is customarily settled by choosing the “church of the bride.”  There may be good reasons ~ for example, if a Catholic marries a Jew ~ to celebrate the marriage in a “neutral” setting.  The Catholic may request permission for these arrangements from his/her bishop.
   
• The ceremony will depend upon where the marriage takes place.  If it takes place in a Catholic Church, the Catholic rite of marriage would be used.  If it takes place in a Baptist church, the Baptist minister would use the Baptist rite of marriage.
   
• If the marriage takes place in a Catholic Church, ordinarily the marriage rite would not include the Eucharistic (Communion Service) because this could be a divisive element.

The Catholic Church recognizes the right of a Catholic to ask permission or dispensation from his/her bishop in order marry a person who is not a member of the Catholic Church.  If the Catholic is seeking to marry a person who is a baptized Protestant, it is only necessary to request “permission” from the bishop in order to enter an interchurch marriage (both of you are Christian but different denominations). If the Catholic is seeking to marry a person who is not baptized (e.g., a Jew, Muslim, agnostic, etc), it is necessary to request a “dispensation” in order to enter an interfaith marriage (one of you is a Christian and one of you is not a Christian). The Catholic can obtain this permission or dispensation by meeting with his/her pastor, who will have the proper forms for recording the information that must be included in the request.  These requests are usually always granted, and are returned to the local pastor within a few days (it is usually done by snail mail).

NOTE.  This answer about marrying a person who is not Catholic assumes that the person you wish to marry is free to marry you in the Catholic Church.  If either of you have been married before, see > What if one (or both) of us has been married before?

Also you will find more information about InterFaith and InterChurch marriage at  > More information for Couples who share different Faith traditions.