marriage with a moslem

luli_mpambagyo asked this question on 7/16/2000:

I'm going to marry a Moslem girl. Despite of pros and cons, I still believe that it's my best choice. One of requirements from the Catholic church is baptizing my children as a Catholic. What if I let them ( if any ) wait until mature enough to be baptized, instead of "infant baptize" ?

mscperu gave this response on 7/16/2000:

Greetings.

As you talk about requirements I suppose you are Catholic and consider marrying in the Catholic Church getting a dispensation from the impediment.

As a condition to get the dispensation the non-Catholic partner has to promise that he/she will respect the faith of the Catholic partner. The Catholic partner is asked to what he can so that the children will be baptized in the Catholic Church.

The Catholic Church teaches that the children be baptized as soon as possible. Not trying to baptize them will have consequences.

It means that you avoid to establish your Christian lifestyle in the new home.

You don't assume your responsibility. The children will grow as pagans not as sons and daughters of God.

There are sociological investigations that have found that the majority of the second generation of these type of marriage profess no faith.

Your own faith will be in jeopardy. One of the wishes of couples that love each other is to share. Not being able to share what should be the most important thing in your life is a constant wound. So generally as not to suffer you exclude this dimension of your life from your marriage. Your question points in that direction.

Sorry if I sound like a doomsayer. Let me tell you something. My aunt, may her soul rest in peace, married a protestant. She has had a wonderful marriage. When my uncle died she lived just a year and died without a direct cause. She wanted to die. The children, my cousins, are active Catholics as are their children.

We asked her once if she would do it again, i.e. marry a man of different faith. She said she was very happy in her marriage but if she could go back she would not do it because you cannot share, she said, the most important things with the person you love. It is a constant suffering.

Vale

mscperu