Catholic(Christian)-Hindu Marriage

If you are in a Catholic(Christian)-Hindu love relationship, this information may help. If you wish to add a correction or other information, comment below.

The law of the Catholic Church forbids another religious wedding ceremony after the Catholic wedding ceremony. If the parties agreed to be married in a church or a neutral suitable place, that would be permitted. A Hindu worship space is also a suitable place and one ceremony could take place in a Hindu worship space, and presided over by a Hindu priest. A neutral suitable place or the Hindu mandir location must be approved by local bishop of the Catholic church. It is not for the parties (two youths in love) to decide.

A dispensation (exemption from usual requirements) would be granted to the Catholic party to marry a non-baptized person outside a church by another minister not of the Catholic faith. Discussions between the parties and their families that need to precede the marriage, the Catholic party must also consult with his or her pastor or parish minister.

If the wedding is in a Catholic Church, the Christian party will agree to raise children in Catholic faith only. It is the policy of the Diocese of Cleveland not to require a signature from the non-Catholic party concerning the Catholic’s party’s serious promise to practice the Faith and to baptize the children and raise them in the Faith. Through the preparation for marriage discussions, the non-Catholic party becomes fully informed and aware of the Catholic party’s promise. The Diocese of Colorado Spring has a practice to ask the Hindu party to co-sign a form similar to this. The Indian Roman Catholic Church requires the Hindu party to sign this document on a Rupees 20 stamp. For this marriage, the Hindu party does not necessarily have to convert to Christianity but one should ask the church involved to make sure about it.

The law of the Church requires infant baptism, and baptism is a formal declaration of a person’s religion. However, the children should respect the religious faith of the other parent but not be indoctrinated in it. The Hindu-Christian children should be raised only in one faith (that is Christianity) because raising children in two faiths will confuse children and potentially loose interest in both faiths.

This post is a part of new initiative to learn of how different faiths handle people from other faith when there is an interfaith marriage. Here, “Hindu” is picked as an example common faith because its belief system is different than many others. More such comparisons will be posted on this site.

More information: Interfaith marriage with equality, Hindu-Christian Marriage, Bible on Hindus? Christian-Hindu relationships, Marriage & Divorce laws.
Return to Home, Blogs, How to Share? Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Book, Media.