Is a Church of England marriage valid in the Catholic Church?

[ofwarren]

My husband and I are both baptised church of England and got married in a church of England church.
If I was to convert to Catholicism, is our marriage recognised in the Catholic Church or is some form of ceremony necessary to validate it?
Neither of us have been married before.

[ofwarren]

Bump

[Slimmingstar]

No it won’t be

[YorkshireIndie]

Your marriage is legally recognised and you would not need a new wedding. If you wanted you could always have a blessing

[Overdueanamechange]

Our local Catholic priest is a married former CofE vicar, who lives in the prespatory with his wife. At one time I would have said probably not, but the Catholic Church, certainly in the UK, is progressing.

[Overdueanamechange]

Our local Catholic priest is a married former CofE vicar, who lives in the prespatory with his wife. At one time I would have said probably not, but the Catholic Church, certain in the UK, is progressing.

[Slimmingstar]

No

[thecapitalsunited]

Actually the Catholic Church would recognise the marriage of two baptised Christians as a valid sacramental marriage.

[ofwarren]

A mixed bag of answers!
I don't mind going through a ceremony if we have to.
@Slimmingstar Do you know people in the same situation? You seem very certain that it won't be accepted.

[Moondust001]

@Slimmingstar

No it won’t be

Actually yes. You are wrong. Twice. The Anglican and Catholic churches both recognise marriage as a sacrament. The OP and her husband are both baptised and married. It's therefore recognised.

[Toddlerteaplease]

@Overdueanamechange would that be in Nottingham by any chance?

[Toddlerteaplease]

@thecapitalsunited actually it wouldn't. To be valid in the eye of the RC church a con validation ceremony is required.

[GreyhoundG1rl]

Why do you both want to convert?

[thecapitalsunited]

@Toddlerteaplease Convalidation is for a marriage between at least one Catholic which didn’t conform to canonical form. Two non-Catholics don’t need to conform to canonical form so they don’t need a convalidation to make their marriage valid when one or both convert to Catholicism. Only Catholics need to follow the rules, you get a free pass if neither of you were Catholic at the time of the marriage since non-Catholic Christians only need to follow natural law not canon law.

[DramaAlpaca]

I'm absolutely sure that @Moondust001 is correct.

[reallyreallyborednow]

would that be in Nottingham by any chance?

The married priest I know of isn’t. Much further south :). Must be more than one!

[GlamGiraffe]

My cousin married her husband in a CofE church. Their children were also christened there. They later decided to 'become' catholic. They are definitely considered to be married with no other processes necessary.

[MindtheBelleek]

@Moondust001 is correct. A CofE marriage between two baptised members of the C of E is considered entirely sacramentally valid in Catholicism.

[Maggiesfarm]

If you convert to Catholicism, your marriage will be valid wherever it happened. I was married in a Baptist church and years later converted to Catholicism. I was validly married, end of.

Good luck.

[Maggiesfarm]

PS to above post. I was also married, very briefly, as a teenager (I regret that), at the local registrar, divorced fairly quickly; a few years later met my gorgeous husband. My previous divorce made no difference at all.

[buffyajp]

@Slimmingstar

No it won’t be

Yes it is. As is a Church of Scotland one. As my Priest confirmed.

[WhenZoomWasJustAnIceLolly]

Of course it’s valid. As is a CofE baptism. People who convert don’t get re-baptised.

[Zerogravity]

Hi. My husband is Catholic and we married in a C of E church. Our marriage is recognized fully in both. To do this, however we had to get permission from the Catholic bishop and we had both priests at the ceremony. Otherwise, I believe it would only have been recognized legally by the Catholic church.

[ZenNudist]

I agree that you don't need convalidation but you can check this with your priest.

I looked into this as I actually do need convalidation but covid got in the way. I've decided to do it when things are more normal and I can get my family together. Catholic Church recognises the marriage of non Catholics the problem comes if a baptised Catholic marries outside the Catholic Church.

[TiddyAndFletch]

If you convert to Catholicism, your marriage will be valid wherever it happened.

Out of interest, would that apply to register office weddings too?

[Zerogravity]

Catholic Church recognises the marriage of non Catholics the problem comes if a baptised Catholic marries outside the Catholic Church.
That makes sense. That must have been why we had to do it so not analogous with OP's situation. Sorry for the confusion.