Catholic/Interfaith Wedding Question

I can say that our priest would be cool with it. But not all are.

Can you ask him after mass one weekend?

@Nonna that would be great but we live six hours away right now and to top it off, he's not at my parish anymore. I know there are specific things a priest has to do for it to be a 'Catholic' wedding. I just can't find out what those are

Wait.. I'm confused. You want to have a Catholic wedding but don't know what the priest has to do for it to be a Catholic wedding? He does the Mass. He consecrates the host and wine. He does the homily. You have things to do beforehand..pre-cana, confession..etc.

Our priest would not be okay with another person doing the homily if they weren't a priest. Its part of the whole Mass and he feels that should be said by a priest. Thats not to say its not allowed.. but its the priest's decision.

I am having a 2nd priest concelebrate our wedding Mass. I am very close friends with many of the priests in our Diocese and I really wanted 2 to do our wedding Mass. I had to get permission by the Parish(of where we are getting married) priest for this to happen. You really need to talk to the priest about this..only he will make the decision.

I do not see this working out. Catholic weddings have traditional and rules association with them and there is not much room for deviation.

I don't see this happening; in most cases, you can't even choose music.

You need to talk to your specific priest.

Each parish is different and it really depends on that particular parish if you can have him give the homily. All you can do is ask.

Many Churches don't even let you celebrate with a mass unless both people are Catholic. I highly doubt a priest would let someone else of another faith do the homily.

I've seen it done but there's a lot of planning to be done for it to work, and it won't work in all parishes. It wouldn't here. The priest will still preside over the ceremony, but the Baptist preacher will have a small role in delivering the message.

I would sit down with FH and decide if it's really worth all that work. Either way, you have to sit down with the priest (in person, not on the phone, so get on a phone call to set up an in person meeting) and talk through everything anyways, especially since you're interfaith. Some churches have a person who runs the pre-cana program who is separate from the priest, so check in.

From what I've heard about Catholics I am gonna go ahead and guess that no this won't be a possibility. Catholics seem to be very rule-oriented and by the book.

I think this is case that would vary by priest. While we do love our rules, the homily is one that, in my experience, is somewhat flexible. Just this past Sunday the homily was replaced by an introduction of our new deacon. In other instances, albeit not often, the homily can be replaced with things like a message from the cardinal, visiting priests seeking donations for their causes, etc.

ETA: I asked our priest if there were restrictions on readers who aren't catholic. He said "I probably wouldn't ask a Buddhist monk....actually I wouldn't even care if you asked a Buddhist monk."

Thanks for all the responses! @SarahK I definitely know what a priest does during mass. But I've also heard from a priest that he only has to preform certain parts for it to be a 'Catholic' wedding. That's what I'm getting to. I've been to Catholic wedding masses before that were cocelebrated with people of other faiths. And our church sounds really laid back compared to what y'all are saying. We get to pick the music, readings, etc. And it definitely is worth it to us. We thought about asking him to do a prayer or reading but it simply wouldn't be worth it for him (my FH worries) to take a weekend away from his congregation to do a prayer at our wedding. @JustPlainCat you sound just like me! Our homilies change a lot too. And your priest sounds like our last priest too!

And we've already been doing pre-cana and we've gotten the mass okayed as well.

Is FH's preacher okay with doing a homily? Most preachers that I know have a wedding policy that you have to read through and agree to before they will do your wedding. Maybe ask if they have a policy?

There is no blanket rule against someone else giving the homily in a Catholic mass. It will probably depend on your dioceses and your priest. Some would allow it while some would not. It definitely does not hurt to ask. But why would your FH's minister be taking a weekend away from his congregation? Is he traveling?

You would definitely need to talk to the priest who will be presiding. If he's ok with it, there's no problem. It does happen. Or he might suggest another place where your fiance's preacher could participate - maybe do the vows? It's just something to work out with the priest. He will need to make time for you before the wedding, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Yeah, no, not the vows. But an added bit of homily or as My Richard suggested so wisely as usual, ask him to say grace before dinner.

Our priest would have been fine with it, but he's also my cousin so we had a lot of leeway in our ceremony. You'll really just have to wait and see what this one says. The homily isn't a part of the mass required for the marriage.

Thanks for all the help y'all! And yes, he would be traveling 6 hours. Our priest is actually my cousin too! I dug a little deeper and found this "The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity states: “In a Catholic liturgical celebration, ministers of other churches and ecclesial communities may have the place and liturgical honors proper to their rank and role, if this is judged desirable” (no. 119). Specifically regarding the celebration of a mixed marriage, the document states that a Protestant minister, with permission from the local Ordinary, may participate in this ceremony by reading scripture, preaching, and blessing the couple (no. 158)." And I asked one of the two priests who are doing the wedding and he said this was correct. I just need to get the church's priest's permission.

Code of Canon Law

Can. 767 §1. Among the forms of preaching, the homily, which is part of the liturgy itself and is reserved to a priest or deacon, is preeminent; in the homily the mysteries of faith and the norms of Christian life are to be explained from the sacred text during the course of the liturgical year.

§4. It is for the pastor or rector of a church to take care that these prescripts are observed conscientiously.

General Instruction on the Roman Missal

66. The homily should ordinarily be given by the priest celebrant himself. He may entrust it to a concelebrating priest or occasionally, according to circumstances, to the deacon, but never to a lay person. In particular cases and for a just cause, the homily may even be given by a Bishop or a priest who is present at the celebration but cannot concelebrate.