Updated: Did anyone marry a Jew in a Catholic ceremony?

I was under the impression that the non-Catholic had to convert before they could marry in the church. I know that was the case for a couple of my high school teachers about 10 years ago because they were always talking about it.

Thanks for the input!

Usually what happens in this case is that you have the Catholic ceremony without a mass, though depending on the priest, they may let you do the mass if you choose. The biggest thing is just that they don't make you vow to raise your kids Catholic.

I am not baptized, and I am getting married in a Catholic Church. They just don't have a full mass, and they will have to ask for "special permission" for your marriage. But it's really easy.

Nope that's not true. The best thing to do is call your specific priest because every parish is a little bit different.

Ok... this is more encouraging. Fingers crossed!

You have time on your side which is good because your request will most likely need to be approved by a bishop. I hope it works out for you!

Depending on how traditional you are the Catholic church doesn't recognize a marriage to other denominations. No more communion in church. My priest wouldn't entertain the idea but he is quite old school. Requires a year of premarital "counseling" which can be best described as trying to find reasons why it may not work out. We arent pursuing that route. So I think the individual doing the ceremony has a bit to do with it.

Every place is different but I've had friends turned away and others had no issue. Good luck!

Ok...looks like I have to wait to find out tomorrow. There's quite a variety of ways this could go. I'll try to keep positive but I'm anxious about it! I appreciate everyone's feedback.

Shit I have 5 stars wtf!!! Ok I'll be quiet now and get my shirt.

I have not been to a wedding where a Catholic and Jewish person have been married but my FH has. The Bride and Groom actually had a Priest and a Rabbi officiate the ceremony. From what FH told me, both religions were incorporated into the ceremony seamlessly. Not sure if they had their ceremony in a church. If I remember correctly they had their ceremony at the same place their reception was being held.

FMrs.Saddler I believe that's as liberal as it gets. That sounds like a beautiful ceremony. Now I won't know until tomorrow's phone call but I have a feeling that won't be a possibility.

I come from a huge Irish Catholic family. When my cousin's son got married, he and his bride hosted a large interfaith wedding at the venue. She is Jewish and he is Catholic. Two officiants were on hand, a rabbi and a representative of the Catholic Church. He may have been a priest (he looked like one), or he may have been a deacon. They may have gotten a special dispensation from their parish to be married outside the walls of the Catholic Church. I always mean to ask my cousin when I see for (so that I can answer this question with specifics), but business is the last thing we tend to talk about when getting together.

What I can tell you is that both faiths were equally represented, both traditions were incorporated, and they were represented by religious clerics at an upscale golf club on Long Island, NY.

So, yes...at least in NY, it can be done. I've seen it (and wow, what a wedding that was!).

Nope. Non-Catholic do not have to convert. I've never been to a Jewish-Catholic wedding. In my case I'm Catholic and FH is Christian. All I had to do was fill out paperwork which was sent out to the Archbishop. It is so that the sacrament of marrige will be counted for me. Definitely talk to the Priest or Deacon of the parish your planning on getting married or if you have a parish in which you are a member trying talking to someone.

I've been to two interfaith weddings. One was church first (I can't remember the denomination, I was really young) and then a Jewish ceremony immediately followed. Again, I was really young so I have no memory of how long this was, but it's always an option. More recently I had a cousin get married by both a rabbi and a minister in a neutral setting. It was a really nice ceremony that represented both faiths. If you can't get married in the church know that there are other options, your ceremony will be beautiful no matter what

My priest mentioned that a Jewish/Catholic combo was an option. My H isn't Jewish but we were talking about if we could get married outside the church and he said only if your FH was Jewish and then the priest would travel to the synagogue and do a combined ceremony, or vice versa.

In terms of the Catholic Church wedding if you do, it shouldn't be a problem that he isn't Catholic, in our diocese the bishop would just have to sign off that it's ok.

That's such a sweet story Rachel! We can't really get a rabbi to officiate unless we pay a lot of $$$. The Jewish community if pretty small in PR so they don't have a standing rabbi. The rabbis visit during specific times of the year but not during our date. They can arrange a rabbi to come but it would be $500 for the temple, $500 for the rabbi in addition to air fare and hotel expenses. We're not comfortable doing that for someone we don't know. The rabbi that married FH's parents and performed his bar mitzvah is dead. It was a huge bummer but we've made our peace with it. FH's parents are Christian and Jewish. His step sister had an Armenian priest officiate her wedding so I feel comfortable that his family won't be offended or feel left out. I'm really warming up to getting married at this church. Can't do anything but wait to hear what the priest says/requires.

So I guess when I say interfaith, in this case I mean that we would be getting married in a Catholic church, but my FH isn't Catholic. Not that both religions would be represented. That would be nice though.

DH is jewish and I'm not - we got married by an officiant who grew up in an inter-faith family - and she did a great job combining the two. I agree that each church/diocese & priest are a little different in what they're willing to do.

We opted not to be married by a pastor for a few reasons - One being we couldn't in good conscience state that we would be willing to raise our children christian - so the pastors we know wouldn't marry us.