If a Baptist marries a Catholic, with no priest present, my understanding is that the marriage is invalid. But, if they later have the marriage convalidated or "blessed by a priest", does that make the marriage therefore valid? I.E., will an anullment be harder to get, since their is no longer a defect of form?

Hope that made sense, Thanks, Dave

-- Dave Walker (djwalker@myway.com), November 25, 2002

Answers

Response to does convalidation effect original validity of marriage?

I found the following answer to a similar question at a web site run by the Roman Catholic diocese of Wheeling/Charleston - hope it helps:

"Congratulations on your approaching wedding. May God grant you many happy and joyous years together.

At the risk of sounding like 'Dear Abbey', I would like to offer my own suggestion before answering your question. It is this: please get married in the Church right from the start rather than having a civil ceremony and waiting any number of months to have your marriage validated. As you may know, a Catholic is required to celebrate his or her marriage in a Church in the presence of a priest or deacon and two witnesses in order for it to be valid and sacrament. A purely civil ceremony does not effect, that is bring about, the sacrament of marriage. Which means, the first few months you would not be validly married and would not have the sacramental grace which comes from the sacrament to assist you in living out your vows. So, please, please, please do marry in the Church before going on the honeymoon.

As regards the procedure for a convalidation, each diocese and often each parish has different requirements and regulations. All you need do is make a new act of the will to marry one another in the presence of a priest or deacon and two witnesses. Some places allow a full wedding ceremony, other places forbid bridal gowns and other celebratory items to show that this ceremony is slightly different from a marriage celebrated in Church the first time, especially when the couple could have and should have married in the Church initially. So, you should talk to your local parish priest to get the exact requirements and regulations."

-- Christine L. :-) (chris_tine_leh_man@hotmail.com), November 25, 2002.

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-- Christine L. :-) (chris_tine_leh_man@hotmail.com), November 25, 2002.

Response to does convalidation effect original validity of marriage?

Hello, Dave.
You asked: "But, if they later have the marriage convalidated or 'blessed by a priest,' does that make the marriage therefore valid? I.E., will an anullment be harder to get, since their is no longer a defect of form?"

Whether a union is valid or not rests on several factors, only one of which is whether the ceremony took place according to "canonical form."
When "form" is missing, there is almost surely invalidity.
But when "form" is present -- either from the beginning, or later through "convalidation" -- that does not automatically "make the marriage therefore valid" (to use your words). The other pre-conditions must also exist -- besides convalidation -- most importantly, full, free, and informed consent.

So, to answer your closing question, convalidation causes the marriage tribunal to begin with a stronger presumption of validity than the lack thereof, making it less likely to find that there was an invalid "union" (no marriage at all).

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), November 28, 2002.