Priest needed NJ/NYC area for Jewish/"Catholic" wedding

cjschnabel

Hello, 

I am having an inter-faith ceremony Jewish/Catholic at my reception site.  I fully understand that if a wedding is not performed in the Catholic church it is not recognized by the church as a sacrament.  My FI's Cantor will be officiating the Jewish rituals, but I am at a loss for finding a Catholic themed priest to officiate for my religion.  I have found many online websites, but how do I know these people are legit?  If anyone has experience working with a priest with a Cathlolic (or close) background please let me know.  I feel totally abandoned by the Catholic church right now and I am totally frustrated that my FI's lifelong Jewish cantor is willing to officiate, but after years of practicing my religion not one person from my church is willing to help so any help would be much appreciated

Riss91

Hey there! Sorry things seem frustrating. I have a few questions for you... do you want your marriage recognized as a proper Catholic marriage? In other words... do plan to continue practicing your Catholic faith? If so, it would make the most sense to work with a priest and try to get the proper dispensations so that your marriage ceremony follows the proper form. If you don't do this, you will no longer be in good standing and will not be able to receive sacraments such as communion. It might also be difficult to have any future children baptized in the Church. The Catholic Church does have/accept both sacramental and non-sacramental marriages, as logn as they are received according to the proper form.

If you aren't interested in continuing/upholding your faith, and are just looking to include Catholic-like elements that are special to you from a cultural/personal perspective, you can find "rent-a-priests" to perform a customized ceremony for you. But please note that this will NOT be according to the Catholic faith, and you will no longer be able to receive sacraments.

Also keep in mind that while some of the rules and restrictions seem like simply nuisances... there are actual reasons for many of them. It is important to understand those reasons. It can be frustrating and tedious to dot all the "I"s and cross all the "T"s, but there is great significance and importance to doing everything properly, when faith is concerned.

Hope that helped... please let me know if you have any questions (especially concerning why the rules exist).