Help! Greek Orthodox/Catholic Question

JessicaV25

My FI is Greek Orthodox and I was baptized catholic.  We are going to have a traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony in a church that we just became members of.  However, because I never completed holy communion can I get married in this church without converting religions?  Is being baptized catholic enough?

Thanks!

tldh

As long as you are baptized, you can marry in the Greek Church without converting.  Whether you've made your First Communion doesn't matter.  You will need a copy of your baptismal certificate though so you may want to start tracking that down.

Your priest will be able to explain all of this.  If you have any questions about the ceremony itself, if your new church is anything like my DH's church, there will be plenty of yia-yias who are ready to jump in and help you out.  Just be sure to go to the after church socials to meet them.

JessicaV25

Thank you!  We kept hearing different things from his family members so I figured I'd dig a little deeper!

tldh

It might be confusing because in the Greek church, you receive the sacraments of Baptism, First Communion and Confirmation at the same time where in the Catholic church, you are baptized as a baby, make your First Communion around 2nd grade and are Confirmed around 8th grade.

LauraChristin

I was baptized Methodist and my husband was baptized Greek Orthodox. We were originally planning a Greek Orthodox wedding (we ended up having a civil ceremony for our legal marriage for unrelated reasons).  When we were orginially planning to have our wedding in the Greek Orthodox Church they just wanted to know if I was baptized as a Christian. They did not ask for paperwork to prove it, although on the document we signed and sent off they wanted to know the date of my baptism. Of course it wouldn't hurt to have the paperwork handy in case they ask for it.

JessicaV25

Wonderful, thank all of you for your help...this makes everything much less stressful.  Now to find the baptismal certificate!

*Just a little back story-

My future mother in law keeps mentioning me converting to Greek Orthodox and even went as far as finding someone in her family to be my godmother. I don't want to convert unless absolutely necessary and my fiance also said he doesn't feel it's necessary for me to convert that he won't be offended as long as we raise our children Greek Orthodox (which I am thrilled to do).  I feel as though my parents would be extremely upset if I converted religions as I already have my godmother +godfather who have played a huge role in my life.  If I convert and have another godmother it's almost offensive to my family.  Therefore, everything all of you have shared is a huge weight lifted off our shoulders....unfortunately I do know the M-I-L will have her fair share of words!

tldh

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_customs-traditions_greek-orthodoxcatholic-question?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:36Discussion:8c7190e5-1530-4f4b-8ee3-78650e111041Post:645b77dc-da1a-423b-a043-faa801f323d9">Re: Help! Greek Orthodox/Catholic Question</a>:
[QUOTE]Wonderful, thank all of you for your help...this makes everything much less stressful.  Now to find the baptismal certificate! *Just a little back story- My future mother in law keeps mentioning me converting to Greek Orthodox and even went as far as finding someone in her family to be my godmother. I don't want to convert unless absolutely necessary and my fiance also said he doesn't feel it's necessary for me to convert that he won't be offended as long as we raise our children Greek Orthodox (which I am thrilled to do).  I feel as though my parents would be extremely upset if I converted religions as I already have my godmother +godfather who have played a huge role in my life.  If I convert and have another godmother it's almost offensive to my family.  Therefore, everything all of you have shared is a huge weight lifted off our shoulders....unfortunately I do know the M-I-L will have her fair share of words!
Posted by JessicaV25[/QUOTE]

Of course she will and it's up to your FI to deal with her.  I was pressured to convert by the mother of one of DH's friends who successfully got her DIL who had been Irish Catholic to convert.  DH and I attend Greek Orthodox services and I have no involvement in the Catholic church - mainly because of severe disagreements with Rome.  Even so, I have no intention of converting and DH has said that he'd be disappointed if I did convert considering that the religions are almost identical (they were the same church at one point).  In his family, there are a total of 43 pure Greek cousins and not a single one of them married another Greek.  I think only 2 or 3 converted.

Christinemcurtis

As long as you were baptised by water you are good.

daniellelea1985

You should check with the preist   (my FI is Greek too)

It really depends on how strict they are!

I was told I just had to have been baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit which I am(Wesleyan).  But when I produced my baptism certificate, the information included was not enough and/or valid according to their rules.

SO I had to contact my old church for a baptismal transcript to include certain information and when I did.... they can't help me. Now I have to convert to Greek Orthodox.

The Catholic church is pretty strict with their baptism certificates too so if you had to produce yours, I don't think they'll have an issue but of course you should check with the priest first.

Congrats and Good Luck!

molly&dale

As an Orthodox Christian, I suggest you talk with the priest who will be marrying you. Yes, it's traditionally accepted that as long as you were baptized in the name of the Trinity, and you have proof, you are allowed to marry in the church without converting. However, some priests may want you to convert, especially before you have your children baptized in the church. As far as the mother-in-law goes, if you go through the priest and have everything cleared with him, she will probably back off. Good luck!!