priest who will marry son/fiance

[Pepper]

Originally Posted by pit martin

My son from Boston and his fiance from south of Boston, are getting married in Meredith in Sept. He his having difficulty finding a priest who will perform the ceremony(which wil be at Church Landing under a tent). We have checked with several Catholic churches who will not accomodate them because they are not members of their church. He never even got to mention that they would prefer not being required to attend any classes sometimes required.Any help would be appreciated. thanks

I'm guessing that your future daughter-in-law is Catholic, and is hoping to have a "church wedding" at Church landing. Sadly, as there is no longer a Catholic Church located there, this will be impossible.

There are, in any organized religion, certain rules. The Catholic Church is no exception - in fact their rules are stricter than most. Wedding ceremonies are only performed inside a church or in a location considered to be holy ground. I'm surprised your son's fiance was not aware of this. Additionally, in order for any couple to be married by a Catholic Priest, they must first attend the prescribed Pre Canna, or preparation-for-marriage sessions. Again, I'm very surprised the bride is not aware of this requirement.

Many disagree with the rigid structure of the Catholic Church, as is their right. However, it is equally within the right of the Church to uphold their tenets.

It is unfortunate that your son and his bride-to-be will likely not have the wedding they envisioned. Perhaps they might be willing to enlist the services of an Episcopal Priest - the service is remarkably similar, and the location is much less of an issue. It would certainly be worth a call to one of the local Episcopal Churches in this area.

I wish them the very best of luck as they search for the perfect solution, and as they embark on the road of life together!

[Wolfeboro_Baja]

Just one more reason why I don't do religion. I don't need religion to know right from wrong.

[Island Girl]

JFK jr. got married by a priest in a Baptist chapel. I googled it ...

"Permissions can be granted, but a compelling reason must be presented...
The only example I can think of is about 10 years ago, when JFK Jr. got married, special permission was done to hold it in a small Protestant parish for security reasons - they did it on the sly so the media would not be hounding them...
But if you don't have that or a similar problem, chances are pretty good permissions for a wedding outside a church will not be granted! "

Then again... it could be who you know!! (I am being a tad obnoxious abou this given my experience)

[Airwaves]

Contact the Manchester Diocese, I am sure that they can find someone who will be available to help.

[EllyPoinster]

Originally Posted by Airwaves

Contact the Manchester Diocese, I am sure that they can find someone who will be available to help.

Don't bother. We recently inquired in Manchester about a similar situation and the answer is, if you want to be married "in the church" you literally have to be in the church. We were, however, offered the use of a church even though neither party is a member. A lot of Catholic churches won't do that.

[rander7823]

My favorite was when my wife I went to the church she was baptised and confirmed in the preist said we have no record of your attendance. I looked him straight in the eye and said we put cash in the basket. We found a more reasonable Catholic Church to marry us. And thatw as 21 wonderful years ago.

[pit martin]

Thank you so much for the replies to our posting. I showed them to my son who appreciated all the information the forum supplied to us. Also I was mistaken, my son said they would have no problem at all going to whatever pre cana meetings that would be required (my bad). thanks again

[piper_chuck]

Originally Posted by Island Girl

JFK jr. got married by a priest in a Baptist chapel. I googled it ...

"Permissions can be granted, but a compelling reason must be presented...

Yup, compelling rea$on. In the case of the Kennedy family, they were probably able to offer plenty of "rea$on$" to compel the church.

[jmen24]

Originally Posted by piper_chuck

Yup, compelling rea$on. In the case of the Kennedy family, they were probably able to offer plenty of "rea$on$" to compel the church.

That's the magic phrase right there. If you make a donation to the local church than I will bet that the priest will do your wedding for you.

When researching our wedding, we were informed by the catholic church that we wanted to get married in, that because we had a child prior to marriage that we could not have our wedding at the church. We could however make a donation and they would see what they could do. Needless to say we found a nice outdoor venue and had a JP perform the ceremony. We are both confirmed in the catholic church as well.