Wedding Vows & Ceremony Discussions

Catholic/Jewish Wedding Ceremony Help

My fiance is Jewish and I'm Catholic. Him and I both want a wedding ceremony where both of our religions are blended and equally represented. We definitely don't want straight Justice of the Peace, as both of our religions our extremely important to us. He has a rabbi or cantor that could officiate, but I have been unable to find a priest or anyone from the Catholic church willing to officiate--mainly because we are having an outdoor ceremony, not a ceremony in a Catholic Church. Is there any priests, deacons, etc. from the Catholic Church that could officiate a wedding ceremony outdoors? We are in Arizona. 

Re: Catholic/Jewish Wedding Ceremony Help

  • One suggestion given to me was to get a married former Catholic priest to perform a ceremony because we want to get married at our venue. No Catholic priest will marry you oustide of the church. If you would consider having an officiant there may be someone who can blend both religions/traditions. Obviously I don't live near you but our officiant is really good at combining traditions and religions in the ceremonies she writes. Maybe you can find someone like that?
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • edited October 2012
    This topic is discussed frequently on the interfaith wedding board. Here's a link to one of those posts to get you started:

     http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_interfaith-weddings_priest-needed-njnyc-area-for-jewishcatholic-wedding

    You could also post this on your local wedding board:

    http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_arizona-phoenix


    Good luck.
                       
  • If you truly want you marriage recognized by the church, follow CMG and Marie's advice. 

    You can have a dispensation given to you by a bishop to have your marriage performed somewhere other than a Church.  This can be hard to obtain.  But if your FI's Jewish family would be uncomfortable in a Catholic Church, you can try to get one.  But even if you are granted the dispensation, you would still need to be married indoors.  And the ceremony would be performed by both the rabbi and Catholic priest.

    One PP mentioned trying to get a retired Catholic priest to perform your wedding.  If any Catholic priest, marries you outdoors, it will not be recognized by the Church.  Many priests that have either left the ministry or were kicked out will perform these ceremonies, allowing you to think you are having a Catholic ceremony.  You are not.  

  • If its not a catholic wedding you can find someone to perform the ceremony for you - if its going to be a catholic wedding then they just can't do it - don't blame the priest
    I am sure you will find a happy medium there are so many interfaith marriages --
  • There is A LOT of incorrect information and opinions out there. My wedding is a few months away. I am catholic and he is jewish. My priest said we are the only type of combination (rite of marriage of catholic person to an unbaptized person) that is permitted to get married outside of the church WITH a priest or a priest and a rabbi and IT IS STILL CONSIDERED A SACRAMENT- from my priest's mouth. We are having a ceremony in my Roman Catholic Church with a co-officiating rabbi. The rabbi was somewhat difficult to find, but they're out there for a price (about $1050 for mine). He isn't a "rent-a-rabbi" either. He is a reform rabbi that is in charge of a congregation not to far from us in NJ. 

    There is nothing in Catholic Law that prevents a Priest from performing this type of ceremony in or out of the church. It comes down to how open the priest's personal beliefs are and whether they'd agree to it. And the rabbi's beliefs for that matter!

    I asked my priest all sorts of questions b/c I was concerned about the "things you hear." He said it DOES count as a sacrament for me, whether in the church or outside. He said I will be married in the eyes of the church/God whether it's in the church or not. The only stipulations were if outside the church, you aren't allowed to have full mass (communion). Also, he also has to do the marriage rites portion at the end, not the rabbi, in order for it to be official. 

    Speaking with my priest answered a lot of questions and confusion I had. It may be past your wedding but hopefully this post can help others going through what I did. 
  • murphye7 said:
    There is A LOT of incorrect information and opinions out there. My wedding is a few months away. I am catholic and he is jewish. My priest said we are the only type of combination (rite of marriage of catholic person to an unbaptized person) that is permitted to get married outside of the church WITH a priest or a priest and a rabbi and IT IS STILL CONSIDERED A SACRAMENT- from my priest's mouth. We are having a ceremony in my Roman Catholic Church with a co-officiating rabbi. The rabbi was somewhat difficult to find, but they're out there for a price (about $1050 for mine). He isn't a "rent-a-rabbi" either. He is a reform rabbi that is in charge of a congregation not to far from us in NJ. 

    There is nothing in Catholic Law that prevents a Priest from performing this type of ceremony in or out of the church. It comes down to how open the priest's personal beliefs are and whether they'd agree to it. And the rabbi's beliefs for that matter!

    I asked my priest all sorts of questions b/c I was concerned about the "things you hear." He said it DOES count as a sacrament for me, whether in the church or outside. He said I will be married in the eyes of the church/God whether it's in the church or not. The only stipulations were if outside the church, you aren't allowed to have full mass (communion). Also, he also has to do the marriage rites portion at the end, not the rabbi, in order for it to be official. 

    Speaking with my priest answered a lot of questions and confusion I had. It may be past your wedding but hopefully this post can help others going through what I did. 
    Your priest is wrong, and this is a dead thread.



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