Expert: Tom Schott - 8/12/2008

Question
To sum it up for you.. My husband and I were married 3+ years ago by a justice of peace in a park. It was a non religious ceremony since I am not Catholic but he is.

Our question is.. We wanted to renew our vows with a full Catholic mass.
But from what I’m reading, we can’t renew our vows in the church because we were not married previously in a church??
Is there any way around this? Our plan is to raise our children Catholic. Since the plan to renew is just shy of 2 years.. Where do we start?

As a note, I will not be converting.


Answer
Dee,

You will have to have your first marriage "regularized." It's a very simple procedure. Talk to your pastor or parish priest; he can explain. In most dioceses, it's a simple form that has to be filed. Then he can help you plan your church wedding.