A sin? Has anyone managed to have their ceremony outdoors with a Catholic priest?
I really don't understand, as its outside in nature, a church is just a building, a hot building in summer. Can God not be everywhere??
It's a rare thing, but there are outdoor Catholic altars. I have one near my house at a retreat center. I believe that is the only way you can get married outside by the Catholic church. I agree with you 100% and made that argument even as a kid. I don't understand it, and I never will.
It's a rare thing, but there are outdoor Catholic altars. I have one near my house at a retreat center. I believe that is the only way you can get married outside by the Catholic church. I agree with you 100% and made that argument even as a kid. I don't understand it, and I never will.
Yes, God is everywhere. But, in the Catholic church, marriage is a sacrament and sacraments are meant to be received inside the church. Plus, while God is everywhere, a getting married in a church represents a connection between your marriage and your relationship with God. Also, remember that most Catholic weddings are in the form of a traditional mass. Mass is always preformed in church.
Most Catholic priests will not perform the wedding ceremony anywhere other than inside the church.
If you are gung ho for an outdoor wedding, you can hire any rent-a-rev and have it in nature. If having the sacrament of marriage (and having your marriage recognized) by the Catholic church is important to you, you can subsequently have your marriage blessed by your priest.
Talk to your priest. The Catholic church believes the church is more than just simply four walls and a roof.
It's not that God can't be everywhere and it's not a sin to have an outdoor wedding. Where the sin comes in is; if dispensation wasn't given then the church wouldn't recognize the marriage as being valid so the couple would be living in sin.
The Catholic church emphasizes the solemnity and sacredness of marriage as a sacrament and believes that outdoor weddings detract from that solemnity and sacredness. To Catholics a church isn't just a building; it's a sacred place where we gather to worship God and where we receive all our sacraments, before God. When you're outdoors you're probably going to be worried about the weather (it's even worse to sit right under the sun in Summer, than it is to sit in a church) or bugs or the wind, there will be half a hundred things that distract everyone from what's going on. Another part of it is that most Catholic weddings have a nuptial Mass as part of their ceremony and Mass takes place in a church unless there's extraordinary circumstances.
Some parishes aren't as strict on this rule as others are, though, it depends on the bishop and what he classes as a "suitable place" (Canon law 1118 s2). But I've never heard of a bishop who has allowed an outdoor wedding. If a couple opts to not have the nuptial Mass and can provide good reason for not having their wedding in a Catholic church then they can try to get dispensation from the bishop of the diocese to have their wedding elsewhere. "Elsewhere" usually refers to another church if one of the couple isn't Catholic.