Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?

vgmartinez · July 2010

I have a couple of questions.

1) Do the gift bearers have to be confirmed Catholics and have received first communion?

2) When signing the marriage license, does the witness have to be the MOH or the BM, or can it be anybody?

[Deleted User] · July 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_giftbearers-confirmed-catholic?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:91d9973f-949f-49ee-a7ca-5739b215c47ePost:9071449e-38e1-49b2-b4c4-81c36a17dbe7">Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a couple of questions. 1) Do the gift bearers have to be confirmed Catholics and have received first communion? Most definitely. They need to believe those gifts are the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Your readers do not have to be Catholic, however. 

2) When signing the marriage license, does the witness have to be the MOH or the BM, or can it be anybody? I know everyone talks about witnesses, but we had full mass and neither our MOH or BM signed ours. And neither one was Catholic and we didn't have any problems. I would ask your priest or deacon to be sure.
Posted by vgmartinez[/QUOTE]

bel138 · July 2010

1. Logic would dictate that yes, the people bearing the gifts that will be transformed into the body and blood of Christ would believe in transubstantiation. I think the readers can be any Christian, or a Jewish friend in the case of the Old Testament reading.

2. Our priest wanted our official witnesses to be Catholic. My MOH was, but DH's BM wan't. So we had his cousin, also our altar server, sign it. Anyone that witnessed the marriage could have signed it legally, though.

tldh · July 2010

Now I'm curious. If you have to be a confirmed Catholic, why was I able to be a gift bearer before I was confirmed in the 8th grade and before I received first communion in the 2nd grade?

[Deleted User] · July 2010

Those things vary a bit. Typically you make your first communion in 2nd grade, however, I have hear of it being in 1st or 3rd grades as well. When I went through RCIA, someone brought your question up and I can't remember now what the exact answer was.

agapecarrie · July 2010

Gift bearers do not need to be confirmed Catholic, or even Catholic, according the rubrics of the mass. It is ideal, though.

Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion must be.

[Deleted User] · July 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_giftbearers-confirmed-catholic?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:91d9973f-949f-49ee-a7ca-5739b215c47ePost:1b69a37a-cbb0-410c-92bd-dc8cc3d62868">Re: Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?</a>:
[QUOTE]Gift bearers do not need to be confirmed Catholic, or even Catholic, according the rubrics of the mass. It is ideal, though. Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion must be.
Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]

Our priest and music director told us they must be. I am not so sure about this. Of course EME's must be Catholic.

ootmother2 · July 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_giftbearers-confirmed-catholic?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:91d9973f-949f-49ee-a7ca-5739b215c47ePost:9071449e-38e1-49b2-b4c4-81c36a17dbe7">Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?</a>:
[QUOTE]I have a couple of questions. 1) Do the gift bearers have to be confirmed Catholics and have received first communion? 2) When signing the marriage license, does the witness have to be the MOH or the BM, or can it be anybody?
Posted by vgmartinez[/QUOTE]

I think this mary vary from church to church or even priest to priest.

I carried one gift (MOB) and an uncle of the groom carried the other. I am a practicing Catholic but the uncle of the groom is a devout Lutheran. No one asked so I doubt that it is a problem.

Anyone at your wedding may sign your marriage certificate. One of the MOHs signed , she was Catholic, the Best Man signed and he was not.

All churches differ, ask your priest what he expects.

agapecarrie · July 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_giftbearers-confirmed-catholic?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:91d9973f-949f-49ee-a7ca-5739b215c47ePost:2953e8a8-1ef2-4946-9822-69ec79f39ac0">Re: Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic? : Our priest and music director told us they must be. I am not so sure about this. Of course EME's must be Catholic.
Posted by MissySue20[/QUOTE]

I am sure....its not in the rubrics. A particular parish may have some extra care and policies in place...for the good of their parishioners, but it is definitely not in the rubrics.

mica178 · July 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_giftbearers-confirmed-catholic?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:91d9973f-949f-49ee-a7ca-5739b215c47ePost:ce33bbd6-8ff7-4245-8027-775a3c37f0cc">Re: Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?</a>:
[QUOTE]Now I'm curious. If you have to be a confirmed Catholic, why was I able to be a gift bearer before I was confirmed in the 8th grade and before I received first communion in the 2nd grade?
Posted by tldh[/QUOTE]

First, when you were a girl, you probably didn't bear the gifts alone, you probably were accompanied by your (Catholic) parents. Also, I don't know if by confirmed Catholics the OP meant Catholics who went through confirmation vs. individuals who consider themselves Catholic.

kathjack95 · July 2010

I was thinking about this, and it may be that your parish decided to make up this "rule" to keep the offertory from looking like a second processional stuffed with kids and adults that "need a job" or didn't make the WP cut. Otherwise, I've only heard that a person needs to have received First Communion (and thus would presumably have a clue as to what the bread and wine mean) in order to participate in the offertory.

Our Diocese (Brooklyn) requires that anybody who serves as a lector must have received Confirmation, so you may want to keep that in mind when you pick readers.

GL!

christyhal · July 2010

Our parish requires that anyone who is participating in a part of the Mass be Catholic. (Readers, Gift Bearers, etc.) I am not sure if they have to have received Confirmation, because everyone who will be involved in one of those roles in our wedding is old enough that they have all been confirmed, so we did not ask. I think it would only be a requirement that they be Catholic, though, because our parish has a school and the school kids read at mass occasionally, including those who are too young to be confirmed. I remember doing this myself as a child, actually. And I think you only have to have received communion (or be accompanied by Catholic parents if too young) to be a gift bearer. This may vary by parish or diocese though? I'm not sure. I'm in a different parish now than when I was a kid, but it's the same diocese.

Our witnesses do not have to be Catholic, only over the age of 18.

I would just ask your priest about any special rules or requirements for those roles if you are unsure.

tldh · July 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_giftbearers-confirmed-catholic?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:91d9973f-949f-49ee-a7ca-5739b215c47ePost:a69253fd-bfea-4002-9394-514617031938">Re: Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic? : First, when you were a girl, you probably didn't bear the gifts alone, you probably were accompanied by your (Catholic) parents. Also, I don't know if by confirmed Catholics the OP meant Catholics who went through confirmation vs. individuals who consider themselves Catholic.
Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]

Actaully, no I wasn't accompanied by an adult.

mysticl · July 2010

The MOH and BM signing the license is a tradition. I've heard of weddings where the BM or MOH was already in a limo headed to the reception when the license was being signed so they just grabbed another person who was at the wedding. Check your state law on the requirements for witnesses. I live in VA and the only witness we need is the officiant.

gocanucks1915 · August 2010

It must depend on the parish/priest. We asked similar questions with regards to restrictions of gift bearers, readers, and wedding party attedants. In all cases there were no restrictions - only that the witnesses signing the register must be over the age of 18. Ask your priest, he'll help you out...

Do giftbearers have to be confirmed Catholic?

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