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a "new" baptismal certificate?

Aray82Aray82 member
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in Catholic Weddings

When I called to reserve the church, the parish secretary asked for a new baptismal certificate from FI and I. Thinking she might have said this because people tend to lose their old ones over the years, I told her that my mom still had the original and would bring it over right away. However, they apparently need new ones, not old, because they write in our marriage info to have on file (I guess in case one of us ever tries to get re-married in the church without an annulment?) She also told me it wouldn't be a problem and the churches would know exactly what we needed and why, because "they do this all the time." Well, my church is sending out mine (after much difficulty in getting them to understand what I needed), but FI's church apparently doesn't do "new" certificates and just sends out originals.

Has anyone run into this before? Did your church request a "new" certificate, or did the church where you were baptized have no idea why you couldn't just use the old one? My mom and I have been in regular contact with the parish secretary and she has my original as a placeholder for now, but still...I'd like to just get the date officially locked in and get the approvals going to start marriage preparation in the state where I currently live. Apparently we can't proceed until there's a "new" certificate from each of us.

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Re: a "new" baptismal certificate?

  • Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    edited July 2013
    My fiance needed a new one because the old one was done when he was a baby and wouldn't show if he had been married before. The newone will show wether he had been married before (in the church at least). I'm a little surprised you can't lock in your date before having it though. The priest marrying us only asked for my fiances last week and our wedding is next week. He had no issues when calling the church hewasbaptized in. Hopefully your fiance can get it all worked out.
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  • lalaith50lalaith50 member
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    Yeah, I'm also surprised you can't do anything until you have it. Most times I'm aware of, the priest asks for it just like a few months before the wedding, since he knows it's really easy to get married not in the Church, and it's really more of a formality.

    Are they church's that you were both baptized at not Catholic? That would explain why they aren't understanding -it's only a Catholic thing to do this. 

    Assuming they are Catholic churches, there's a few things you can do- 
    Call back, and insist to talk to someone else who is more than just a volunteer in the office who doesn't know anything - either the main office manager, or better yet, the priest. If neither of those people are able to understand you, then try calling the diocese and say, "listen, you need to lay the smack down on this parish; they aren't able to fulfill this basic Catholic standard requirement." Or, you could bypass that and just (very nicely!) ask the secretary of the church you are getting married at (or maybe the priest? but priests are very busy) to call the other parishes themself; both for the benefit that they would likely be able to explain better than you are what exactly they need, and then once they realize how stubborn/ignorant the churches are they might have an idea of how you should proceed.
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  • manjermjmanjermj member
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    We had to submit baptismal certificates dated within 6 months of the wedding. Both of our churches, just typed up new ones and signed/dated them. My husband's church did act weird about it at first because they didn't want to send it directly to his parents, so we just had it mailed directly to the church. 
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  • agapecarrieagapecarrie member
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    Yes, it is a requirement that "new" certificates be issued due to the marriage information. This proves you are free to marry. Churches are technically not supposed to get a date set until freedom to marry is proven. You should be able to start marriage prep though without a date locked down. 
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  • Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    agapecarrie said:
    Yes, it is a requirement that "new" certificates be issued due to the marriage information. This proves you are free to marry. Churches are technically not supposed to get a date set until freedom to marry is proven. You should be able to start marriage prep though without a date locked down. 

    . That's interesting.. We have had our wedding date on the priests calendar since last year and he just recently(last week) asked for the baptismal certificate as well as our prenuptial affidavit. Our wedding is next Saturday and we still have to take all the papers to him..
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  • Aray82Aray82 member
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    lalaith50 said:
    Yeah, I'm also surprised you can't do anything until you have it. Most times I'm aware of, the priest asks for it just like a few months before the wedding, since he knows it's really easy to get married not in the Church, and it's really more of a formality.

    Are they church's that you were both baptized at not Catholic? That would explain why they aren't understanding -it's only a Catholic thing to do this. 

    Assuming they are Catholic churches, there's a few things you can do- 
    Call back, and insist to talk to someone else who is more than just a volunteer in the office who doesn't know anything - either the main office manager, or better yet, the priest. If neither of those people are able to understand you, then try calling the diocese and say, "listen, you need to lay the smack down on this parish; they aren't able to fulfill this basic Catholic standard requirement." Or, you could bypass that and just (very nicely!) ask the secretary of the church you are getting married at (or maybe the priest? but priests are very busy) to call the other parishes themself; both for the benefit that they would likely be able to explain better than you are what exactly they need, and then once they realize how stubborn/ignorant the churches are they might have an idea of how you should proceed.
    Yes, these are both Catholic Churches. The parish secretary actually did offer to call them, so I may just take her up on that soon!
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  • Aray82Aray82 member
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    agapecarrie said:
    Yes, it is a requirement that "new" certificates be issued due to the marriage information. This proves you are free to marry. Churches are technically not supposed to get a date set until freedom to marry is proven. You should be able to start marriage prep though without a date locked down. 
    I agree! But apparently there needs to be mutual approval from our current parish as well as where we're getting married, and they won't do that until we have the date locked down. We still have plenty of time since it's not until October 2014, but I don't want to wait until the last minute--and having heard from friends about what insightful and positive pre-Cana experiences they've had, I'm just antsy to get started  :)
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  • professorscienceprofessorscience member
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    Maybe the key word here is "new" (as opposed to "within 6 months")?  Have you explained to the churches in question that you need a recent certificate to prove there are no impediments to your upcoming marriage?  Maybe the person in the office is new or just doesn't understand what you're asking for?
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  • Aray82Aray82 member
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    professorscience said:
    Maybe the key word here is "new" (as opposed to "within 6 months")?  Have you explained to the churches in question that you need a recent certificate to prove there are no impediments to your upcoming marriage?  Maybe the person in the office is new or just doesn't understand what you're asking for?
    Yeah, that might be the case. FI's should have arrived by now, so if it is actually the "original," I might give them a call myself (FI's mother called them before) to try and be more clear.
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  • professorscienceprofessorscience member
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    BTW, even though it should be a fairly easy process, you're not alone in finding it a little frustrating.  My husband was confirmed during a Jubilee year for his diocese, so the ceremony took place at a huge convention center in Austin, TX, rather than at H's actual church, and somehow the confirmation was never recorded on his baptism certificate, which no one realized until we had it sent to the church where we were getting married.  Of course it had been over 10 years, so office staff had changed, and it was a bit of a hassle convincing the people at his home parish to write in the confirmation.

    I mention this because it all worked out and we got married.  :p
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  • Jessica41381Jessica41381 member
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    Our priest got my fiancés baptismal certificate the other day! Thankfully it was a simply process for us bit I can imagine how tough it can be.
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