If there’s something that we really take to heart at White Emotion is that all future brides and grooms sort out without concerns what is often one of the most complex and most important aspects of a wedding: paperwork. More specifically, today’s post will regard requirements to get married in Italy with a mixed catholic marriage.
To begin with, mixed marriages are those between a Catholics and a non-Catholic, when the latter has been baptized in some Christian sect or is atheist. Both cases require the couple to attend formation on the Catholic meaning of marriage: the value of the couple’s exclusive unity, the indissolubility of matrimonial vows and the ultimate purpose of the union – the creation of a family. In terms of paperwork, this means that the first of all requirements to get married in Italy with a mixed Catholic marriage is to submit the certificate of attendance to such formation.
Once the pre-marital course is over, if the non-Catholic is a non-believer, the latter’s recognition of the importance of supporting their partner’s religious faith and not hindering it is paramount, as is their acceptance to provide a Christian education to their children.
On the other hand, if the couple is formed by a Catholic Christian and a non-Catholic Christian, there are a few more requirements for your marriage in Italy to be recognized. First, both parties need to submit a baptism certificate; the Catholic of the couple shall then sign and submit a document where they take an oath to maintain their commitment and carry on their profession of faith and not part from the Catholic Church. The non-Catholic party shall, on their side, present a free status certificate, a document which certifies the absence of previous marriages celebrated with a religious rite.
When all certificates have been submitted and the mutual commitment to respect each other’s creed has been recognized, the date to celebrate the marriage can be established. Although the Catholic rite is generally preferred, the celebration of the Orthodox rite or the rite of another non-Catholic eastern church family can be requested. This authorization is even more rightly given when the maintenance of good family relations depends from it, or in case the marriage is celebrated in a non-Catholic state.
