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"Dedicated" but not Baptized?

malibujen17malibujen17
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in Catholic Weddings
Ok, so we had our first meeting with the priest last week and all went great. We explained that my fiance is not Catholic, etc. My real concern now though is that although he was raised Protestant, he was not baptized, but was 'dedicated' when he was a baby. Has anyone been in this situation? Is this going to be an issue with the Church?
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Re: "Dedicated" but not Baptized?

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    IrishBrideNDIrishBrideND
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    edited December 2011
    Thats what many christian churches call baptism. It will be fine. He was still "baptised" in christianity.
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    GulfCoasterGulfCoaster
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    edited December 2011
    You'll still be able to marry him, if that's what you mean by "issue." The dispensation required may be different, since he isn't baptized... but the Church won't prevent you from marrying him. Relax. Your priest would have told you if it was going to be some huge problem. :) (As an aside regarding the comment above, infant dedication is different than baptism -- I was dedicated as a baby and then baptized as a teen. Infant dedication is usually used in denominations that believe in "believer's baptism," i.e. the baptism only of those who have freely chosen to follow Christ and seek baptism. Dedication is the parents thanking God for their child and making a public commitment to educating their children in the faith... so that the children can later choose to be initiated into the faith of their own accord. Dedication is not really a sacrament of initiation for the child in the same way baptism is. Similar purpose, but somewhat different.)
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    IrishBrideNDIrishBrideND
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    edited December 2011
    Oh I know they are different. I was just told by my church that either are accepted (so to my church, they were viewed as the same for the purpose of what counted).
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    GulfCoasterGulfCoaster
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    edited December 2011
    I agree that from the Church's perspective it won't be that big a deal -- it's not like being dedicated and not baptized will prevent them from being married.
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    malibujen17malibujen17
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Whew!! Thanks SO much everyone for clearing that up for me - I really appreciate it! I'll certainly sleep better tonight knowing that it should all be ok :)
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    Tuneful_BrideTuneful_Bride member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You might need a dispensation depending upon the form of the dedication. "Baptism" as defined by the Catholic Church for these purposes requires water and Trinitarian form (in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). No, it will not prevent the marriage from proceeding, it just may require certain paperwork to obtain permission.
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    lap256lap256
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    I was dedicated in the unitarian church, which (as you can probably tell by the name) is non-trinitarian. Thus, it wouldn't have counted as a baptism. But if he was dedicated in a more traditional protestant church, it probably would.Even if his dedication doesn't count as a baptism, don't worry,  a dispensation to marry an unbaptized person is easy to obtain.
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