Reader Question

Rbfh · May 2010

I'm sure this is a silly question but I didn't know the answer and my priest said he doesn't want to meet until next January for my July 2011 wedding so I thought I'd ask it here. Does anyone know if your readers and/or individuals who say the prayers of the faithful need to be Catholic or Christian? I would like to ask a friend of mine to do a reading, but she isn't Catholic or Christian herself. I'm assuming the answer is no, but since I wasn't sure I thought I'd ask.

[Deleted User] · May 2010

To answer your first question, that is probably ok. Most churches say you only need 6 months for marriage prep. You are still a year out or so, so I would maybe approach him again toward the end of the year/late summer or so and he may want to start meeting with you.

Secondly, your readers do not have to be Catholic, but yes, they should be Christian and believe and/or practice what they are reading. Of course, any gift bearers of holy communion do have to be Catholic to believe it is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ (assuming you are having full mass) I believe the Prayers of the Faithful are only read by the priest or Deacon so that is not even an option I don't think.

agapecarrie · May 2010

There are no "gift bearers of holy communion". There are gift bearers, who bring the bread and wine to the priest during the offertory. The gifts are not consecrated yet. It is ideal that these people are Catholic as they represent the church offering their gifts, tithes, struggles and joys to the foot of the cross to be resurrected. There are sometimes "Extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion" (or sometimes called eucharistic ministers). These folks "hand out" communion once it is consecrated. These people must be Catholic.

Calypso1977 · May 2010

i believe it used to be required that they be Catholic, just as it used to be required that your MOH and Best Man were Catholic. things have changed.

i personally feel that they should be Catholic, or at the very least Christian.

Rbfh · May 2010

Thanks, the reason I was thinking they would not need to be was because (if I am right on this - which I may not be) I thought the old testament reading should be the same as the readings in the Torah, and so I didn't really see why the person reading that would need to be Christian.

ring_pop · May 2010

My non-Christian cousins read the prayers of the faithful at my wedding. That being said, that was the only reading out of the three that I felt comfortable assigning to non-Christians.

mbcdefg · May 2010

Our priest never asked us if our readers or gift bearers were Catholics. He only asked if our Best Man and Maid of Honor were Catholic, since they'd be signing as our witnesses.

Our three readers were all Catholic. One gift bearer was, and the other was raised Catholic but became a Lutheran when she got married.

Karen's MOH · May 2010

My priest never said anything nor do I think he cares. I'm purposely having my friend that is Jewish do the first reading (Old Testament and all). She converted from being Catholic before she got married, so it seems more appropriate.

The prayers of the faithful usually are read by a friend, not the priest or deacon, in my experience.

ANBJTC111310 · May 2010

According to the Catholic churches in my area (Philadelphia), all participants have to be Catholic. Sorry girls!! You may want to check this out with you local parish.

CourtneyJ2010 · May 2010

Priest never asked but I personally want all my readers to be catholic because like others said I want them to believe in what they are saying and professing, I do not want them just reading.

lisam1217 · May 2010

My FI is Catholic, I am not. I grew up in a non-denominational church (believe me, when I first started going to mass with FI, everything seemed so strange and foreign!) We asked the priest marrying us just a few weeks ago about this very thing because we thought it would be nice to have some of my side involved in the ceremony as well. He said what a lot of other people are saying here. For the readings, it is okay if they are not Catholic as long as they agree with what is being read. As for the gift bearers, they should be Catholic. But, from the sounds of it, this could vary from parish to parish so if you want to make certain, just ask.

[Deleted User] · May 2010

Sorry agapecarrie. I screwed my previous post up. It was early this am before work when I was typing it. Thanks for the correction!

Gin93081 · May 2010

You might want to ask your friends or relatives how they would be most comfortable participating. My sister had two friends she was considering for the readings, her Catholic friend read the epistle and her Jewish friend read the old testament. I ended up with the Prayer of the Faithful, since the groomsman she asked (at the rehersal) wasn't comfrtable (as a Buddhist) leading a prayer in a Catholic Church.

iamapixie · May 2010

It is at the parish's discression. In my parish, it it not required for readers or vocalists to be Catholic. All of my readers are practicing Christians, however. As far as the prayers of the faithful go, I had the same question for the wedding coordinator at my church and she said the priest or deacon can read them or we can have someone read them, it was totally up to us. Again, you probably just want to check with someone at the church to be sure. Good luck!

Reader Question

Re: Reader Question

Choose Another Board

Search Boards