Expert: Fr. Michael - 5/23/2010

Question
I had only a civil wedding with a non-Catholic man, and per my priest, I can receive the Sacrament of Confession, but I can't receive the Sacrament of Communion until I got my marriage blessed in church, which he would ask for a permission from the bishop. I talked to my cousin, who is in a similar situation, but attend a different parish, and she said that she never heard such a rule from her Catholic teaching. Why is there the difference, and which one is correct? Thank you.

Answer
Neither is correct.  Traditionally, by presuming to marry before a civil official, you proclaimed publicly that you are no longer a Catholic and excommunicated yourself by your own act.  Moreover, your "marriage" is null and void from a Catholic perspective.  The fact that you married a heretic without having presented evidence of just cause for a dispensation from the prudent requirement that a Catholic marry another Catholic within the Church adds an additional difficulty to your situation.

Apparently, you are not very knowledgeable about your the Faith and its Sacraments and did not present yourself for instruction before the Sacrament of Matrimony and took matters into your own hands to made a very grave mistake that has now put you outside the Church.  It seems that you are consulting presbyers of the New Order rather than (traditional) priests, not to speak of a layperson who seems even more ignorant about the true Faith.

My best recommendation is that you arrange a detailed session with a (traditional) Catholic priest.  There is a geographical list at www.traditio.com/nat.htm.  Sorry about the bluntness of this answer, but Our Lord's true Faith and Sacraments are too important to be treated lightly.  Your eternal soul hangs in the balance.