Is it right to marry a person of a different religion?

It might be easier to say that it can be okay to marry a person of a different religion. Just to clarify, “different religion” means somebody who is not Catholic. It doesn’t refer to Catholics of two different rites–for instance, a Roman Catholic and a Byzantine Catholic are still the same religion: Catholic.

Rules regarding marriage in the Catholic Church are mostly found in the Code of Canon Law (or for Eastern Catholics, the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches), which is basically the Catholic Church’s legal code. It lists two scenarios: (1) a Catholic with a non-Catholic Christian, and (2) a Catholic with a non-Christian. In both of these scenarios, the Church can make an exception for a particular couple and allow them to marry, following the rules found in Canons 1124-1129. Canon law uses a lot of technical terminologies, so let’s simplify it a little bit…

If it’s scenario (1), then the couple simply requires permission from the Church. But in the case of scenario (2), the process requires a little more work since it needs a dispensation. A dispensation is where the Church removes the obligation to follow a particular law, and it requires a certain process to be followed.

Whether the couple needs permission or a full dispensation, there are certain things they need to know first… The Catholic person in the relationship must declare that he/she will not leave the Catholic faith. He/she must also “make a sincere promise” that any children will be baptized and raised in the Catholic faith as well. The non-Catholic person also has to understand and accept his/her Catholic spouse’s commitment to the faith, his/her promise to raise children in the Catholic faith, and what marriage means for the Catholic Church. They also have to be married in a Catholic wedding.

Once the couple has obtained the appropriate permission or dispensation and followed the necessary process, they have permission to marry.

This just goes to show how seriously the Church treats marriage! Marriage is a sacrament where two people are committing to each other for life, before God and the Church. They are telling each other that they want to help the other person get to heaven in a totally committed lifelong relationship. That is why the Church puts these particular rules in place for marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics. The Church wants both people to get to heaven, and differences in religion should never hinder that!