Step One: Celebrant

[telerib]

It sounds like the setup to a joke: Two lapsed Catholics want to get married...

Personally, I don't even have a problem with the Pre-Cana counseling. Premarital counseling isn't going to hurt and may very well be useful. I do have a problem with a priest who feels compelled to tell me where to sleep and what I can keep in my medicine cabinet. Moreover, although I also have no problem raising kids in the Church (especially when the parents are there to give the occassional reality check), my personal religious views have drifted in directions I think the Church would call, um, "heretical."

Some priests can be quite flexible about the whole thing. They see the process as a chance to possibly bring a lapsed Catholic back to Mother Church, and they approach the couple with tolerance and respect.

Others are inflexible, and seem to see it as a way to punish - er, chastize - the wandering lambs and require a great deal of line-toeing.

Moe and I decided that we're not going to lie to the priest about who we are or what be believe. That would really defeat the whole point of the, y'know, sacrament. But he'd still like a Catholic ceremony, if we can find one of these (sometimes elusive) tolerant priests. We're hoping that his own Uncle Joey, an ordained Catholic priest, will be able to do the honors.

It is Being Looked Into. Moe doesn't even know where Uncle Joey has his parish, so it's not like they're overly close.

Everything else is waiting, for the moment, on that. If we get a Catholic priest, we may need a Catholic church. May. Again, some of them are flexible and will do weddings in ecumenical chapels, and some probably will not. If we need a church and the church has a nice hall, we may as well use that for a reception. So I don't want to spend a lot of time on the phone with possible wedding and reception sites until we find out where the celebrant is willing to perform the ceremony.

So, we await the word on Uncle Joey.

Comments

[cmccurry.livejournal.com]

At least you're handling the matter better than my mother did when she had to go through Pre-Cana.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

As I understand it (and you'd know better than I), there are other "Catholic" churches besides the Roman one, too. Some are recognized by the Pope, although they generally don't reciprocate, as I understand it. I can talk with a friend of mine about where he goes to Mass, if you'd like more information.

[telerib.livejournal.com]

It's something to keep in mind! If Uncle Joey doesn't work out, I actually want to see if the hospice priest who worked with my family would come down from New Jersey. He's Dutch Reformed - not a group I'm familiar with, but the man himself was absolutely warm and loving. I really would be honored to have him officiate.

I have no idea how likely that is, especially since the wedding is now going to be held here in MD and he's up in NJ. But it won't hurt to ask...