greek/catholic wedding....

bellaex23 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:01 PM

greek/catholic wedding....

anyone going through this or know what i can do???

im greek orthodox, my fh is catholic...anyone in this situation getting married in a catholic church? if so, how were u able to do that? in what church are you getting married? the catholic churches ive called said they wont marry us unless i get a release from the greek church stating its ok by them if i marry in the catholic church...but the greek church wont give me the ok....what can i do??? where can i go?? thanks!!

m&m Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:14 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

Hi - I'm Catholic and my FI is Greek Orthodox...we are getting married in the catholic church on our wedding day - and having a blessing in the greek church a few weeks later, so that he is still in good standing with his church. The Catholic church simply asked for a copy of his baptismal certificate - no waiver or anything. Our priest even said that a Greek priest could come and say a prayer or do a blessing at the ceremony. (The Greek priest told us he could not do that). If you get married in a Greek church, the Catholic can get dispensation - and it still 'counts' for the Catholic church.

bellaex23 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:16 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

m&m -- which church are you using? the few i called said they wont do it without the 'release' from the greek church....

JessToni Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:19 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

My FH is not greek orthodox, but romanian orthodox so it is similar. We are getting married in a catholic church and all he needs is a copy of his baptismal certificate.
We were also told that a romanian orthodox priest could come in to do some readings, etc.

vita930 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:20 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

I wish I could help you...I am in a reversed situation...I am Catholic marrying Greek-orthodox guy. I am not converting but I am getting married in a Greek church. St.Paul's.... all they asked me was for my christening certificate...are you willing to convert??

m&m Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:22 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

St. Catherine of Sienna in Franklin Square. I am really surprised about this - this never even came up. We spoke with Father Dennis. I'm hoping this doesn't come up down the road before the wedding....even the Greek priest, Fr. Nick at Holy Trinity in New Rochelle, was understanding and worked with us for the second ceremony.

ETA: I wonder if the release is similar to a Catholic dispensation? Maybe your priest will 'ok' it if you do a blessing ceremony?

bellaex23 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:25 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

right now we're booked at st pauls too, but my fh really wants it catholic, im not going to convert... i wonder if we agree to do a sm greek ceremony later on, if we'd be able to do the big one in the catholic church...i dont know...i just dont want to have trouble later on when we have kids...we're going to baptize them catholic & probably neither godparent will be greek...i didnt know if that could be if we got married in the greek church...

m&m Posted: Sep 06, 2005 01:32 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

Posted by bellaex23

right now we're booked at st pauls too, but my fh really wants it catholic, im not going to convert... i wonder if we agree to do a sm greek ceremony later on, if we'd be able to do the big one in the catholic church...i dont know...i just dont want to have trouble later on when we have kids...we're going to baptize them catholic & probably neither godparent will be greek...i didnt know if that could be if we got married in the greek church...

As far as I know the Catholic Church will see the Greek Orthodox wedding as a sacrament and recognize you as married in the church - so you should not have a problem baptizing your children Catholic. (I think - but definitely double check).

I think the Greek priest also said that we could have a Catholic priest on the altar if we were to get married there - is that an option?

bellaex23 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 02:24 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

but i dont know if the greek church will allow us to baptize catholic...thats my concern

m&m Posted: Sep 06, 2005 02:34 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

Posted by bellaex23

but i dont know if the greek church will allow us to baptize catholic...thats my concern

Oh, sorry about that, I misunderstood :( I think in both churches you have to vow to raise your children in that religion.

I know if we didn't have the Greek ceremony to bless the marriage, my FI couldn't be a koumbaro or godfather in the Greek church b/c he wouldn't be in good standing.

What I've discovered in my research in trying to make this all work is that the Catholic Church views the orthodox churches as sister churches (which is why an orthodox christian can receive communion in a catholic church); however the orthodox churches do not recognize catholic churches in the same manner.

bellaex23 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 04:01 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

no prob :) im so confused about all this. i dont know what to do...i wanted to get married at east wind so we wouldnt have to worry about all this but my dad really wants it in a church & our cocktail hr doesnt start until 730 anyway, so by the time we have the ceremony at 730 then push the cocktail to 830 & the reception to 930, i think it'll be too late...ugh!!!!!!!!!! did someone say elope?? lol

Emma2-22 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 05:50 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

we just did it in the Greek church they don't have a problem with one of you being catholic. Otherwise maybe you should look into having your ceremony at your hall with an interfaith minister perhaps.

Athee07 Posted: Sep 06, 2005 06:31 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

I wish I could help you as well. I am Greek Orthodox and Fi is Catholic, and we are getting married in St. Nicholas church in Flushing. Definately double check everything cause I know the GO church does alot of things very strict and they will not break any rules. HTH and good luck@

lillady Posted: Sep 07, 2005 05:00 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

I am Catholic and my FH is Greek Orthodox. We decided to get married at my church since his church is very strict.

TimDogsGal Posted: Sep 07, 2005 05:37 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

Posted by bellaex23

right now we're booked at st pauls too, but my fh really wants it catholic, im not going to convert... i wonder if we agree to do a sm greek ceremony later on, if we'd be able to do the big one in the catholic church...i dont know...i just dont want to have trouble later on when we have kids...we're going to baptize them catholic & probably neither godparent will be greek...i didnt know if that could be if we got married in the greek church...

Not sure if this is your concern but...If you get married in a greek church you can still baptize your kids in a catholic church....my sister in law and brother did that.

bellaex23 Posted: Sep 07, 2005 06:41 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

ok thanks, that was our biggest concern...do u know if both godparents have to be greek? or if 1 has to be?

TimDogsGal Posted: Sep 07, 2005 07:46 PM

Re: greek/catholic wedding....

Posted by bellaex23

ok thanks, that was our biggest concern...do u know if both godparents have to be greek? or if 1 has to be?

If your baptizing in a catholic church...no one has to be greek.(but they can be)...If you have your children baptized in a greek church both have to be Greek