Hi,
So for those of you who read my other thread, you'll know that I'm having some difficulty with parishes when it comes to my wedding. For those of you who haven't read it, here's the gist: I want to get married at the church I grew up at, but apparently our registration has lapsed and we are no longer parishioners there, so the pastor is hesitant (possibly outright unwilling) to agree to perform my ceremony because of this. I cannot register as a parishioner where I currently live because I do not maintain a permanent residence (I am a college student and will be moving back home as of May 2014).
It is seeming as if the pastor at home is going to outright tell me that he is either not comfortable or not able to do my wedding. This is absolutely fine. I don't want anyone thinking I am pitching a fit about this. I understand that as a servant of God he has to do what he believes is God's will for the situation.
The problem is, I know that I want a Catholic ceremony. I know *why* I want a Catholic ceremony. My fiance is even completely on board despite the fact that he is not Catholic. So I figured that maybe I would just have a civil ceremony now and we would have a Catholic ceremony when I join my fiance in Japan (he's in the Navy and currently stationed there). This is not my ideal plan, and from what I've read in a few other threads, this is not the appropriate course of action to take. (Of course, I have yet to see in those threads a situation where the couple has been denied their traditional Catholic ceremony for reasons other than previous marriage/divorce/annulment and whatnot. Maybe I need to read further back, though).
So as I was looking through the officiants directory here on The Knot, I noticed that there are "independent Catholic priests" who will perform ceremonies outside a traditional church setting. I'm not talking about having a ceremony outdoors or anything, although this is something these "independent priests" do.
My questions, I guess, are these:
- Can someone explain to me just what an "independent Catholic priest" is?
- Is having my wedding performed by such an officiant going to still be both valid and sacramental -- would having my wedding be officiated by one of these priests in lieu of a priest at my home parish still count in the eyes of the Church?