Convalidation Query

A reader writes:

My parents were married in the Catholic Church in the 1960s. My father was a baptised Catholic and my mother was a non-Catholic. They remember the parish priest having to obtain a dispensation for their marriage.

A few years ago, my mother became a Catholic. As she was preparing for reception into the Church, research showed that she had not been baptized in the Church of England (as we had always assumed) but ‘dedicated’ in the Salvation Army. Accordingly, she was baptized at the Easter Vigil.

My question relates to their marriage. I have heard that a different kind of dispensation is needed for a Catholic to marry an unbaptized person than to marry a baptized non-Catholic. We don’t know what kind of dispensation the priest obtained in the 1960s.

My question is this: Was their marriage valid? Is it now? If not, what steps would need to be taken? (My father, who currently has some “issues” with the Church would be absolutely furious if asked to go through a convalidation ceremony).

You are correct that a different kind of dispensation is needed. When a Catholic marries a non-Catholic baptized person then a "mixed marriage" dispensation is needed. When a Catholic marries a non-baptized party, however, a "disparity of cult" dispensation is needed.

That being said, there is a good likelihood that the latter dispensation was granted when your parents married back in the sixties. In many dioceses even today it is standard practice to grant a disparity of cult dispensation at the same time as granting a mixed marriage dispensation–precisely in order to take care of situations like this one.

My impression is that this was all the more common back then, when there was a more cautious attitude taken with regard to the validity of individual Protestant baptisms (i.e., there was an acknowledgement that Protestant baptisms were valid in principle but a greater caution about whether the baptism had been validly performed in any particular case).

There is thus a good chance that the diocese issued both dispensations at the time your parents married.

The way to find out is to contact the diocese in which they were married and ask them to look it up. They (or the parish) should have the record.

If it turns out that they did not get both dispensations then the matter could be handled by convalidation or, hypothetically, by a procedure known as radical sanation ("healing from the root"), which would not involve a renewal of consent by your father.

One should not get ahead of oneself, though. The first step for your mom would be to contact the diocese and find out what dispensations were granted.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

4 thoughts on “Convalidation Query”

  1. Jimmy,
    Just a logistics question. I’m assuming that you probably don’t have time to answer all faith/church questions that you receive. But is there a “normal” amount of time that it takes you to respond to the ones you do answer?
    Thanks.

  2. Hey! [raising hand to get teacher’s attention] We got a sanatio. Not the same marital situation, but still…a sanatio, doncha know. I mention it only because hardly anyone has ever heard of them. 😀
    It was pretty easy, although it took some weeks, during which time we couldn’t receive Communion.
    Blessings,
    Diane

  3. Yes, a “sanatio in radice” is the same thing as a “radical sanation.” Not very common, but they do happen.

  4. I`m also a Catholic getting married to a Salvationist. My church is refusing me the opportunity to get married in the Salvation Army. We had agreed with my fiance/wife to be, that we get married in the Salvation Army and then go to the Catholic church for a blessing and acceptance to which it was said that we should choose either of the two. As it is we have compromised all our plans. We still talking to our families, the priests and salvation army officers about it. We are not sure of the outcome. If you have any ideas and advice you can offer us please assist. We had scheduled our wedding days as the 3rd and 4th of December 2005. We wanted t start at the Salvation Army on 3rd and then move on the Catholic church on the 4th. All is in place. Please help!

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