Orthodox-Catholic mixed marriages

Marriage between Catholics and Orthodox From the Orthodox standpoint: Can an Orthodox marry a Catholic and remain an Orthodox in good standing?

Currently, the same prohibitions contained in the early ecumenical councils regarding marriages of Christian faithful to unbelievers are still cited as the source for the Orthodox Church's general prohibition against mixed marriages. However, as Patsavos notes, when Constantinople fell in 1453, and Orthodox faithful began to seek to marry non-Orthodox spouses with increasing frequency, "what in theory was prohibited (intra-Christian marriages), began in practice to be tolerated 'by economy.'"45 Consequently, marriages between Orthodox and baptized non-Orthodox (such as Catholics) can and do take place with the recognition of the Orthodox Church. 

As a rule, mixed marriages between a Catholic and an Orthodox are recognized by the Orthodox only if blessed by an Orthodox priest.46 Since the Orthodox Church does not admit non-Orthodox to the reception of Orthodox sacraments, a mixed marriage always takes place outside the eucharist, as the non-Orthodox party would not be permitted to receive the sacrament. Finally, any children of the marriage are also to be baptized and raised in the Orthodox faith. 

What, then, does this mean for Catholic-Orthodox marriages that have taken place in a Catholic ceremony? The Orthodox Churches are divided on this point. For example, Viscuso notes that

"according to the [Greek Orthodox] Archdioceses canonical practice, a Greek Orthodox who marries in the Roman Catholic Church is excommunicated ... [which] implies a rejection of the Catholic sacrament as true matrimony. This is confirmed by the fact that the Orthodox party joined according to the Roman rite must be married again in the Orthodox Church in order to be reconciled, even though his or her spouse is not required to convert." 47

While this may be true among the Greek Orthodox, the term "excommunication" is not used by all Orthodox in this scenario, nor do all Orthodox Churches insist on a second, Orthodox wedding. It does, however, appear to be virtually universal that, whether there is a formal excommunication of the Orthodox party and a required second wedding ceremony or not, some penance must be performed by that party before being readmitted to communion with the Orthodox Church. 

But some exceptions have been made to the requirement that an Orthodox priest perform the marriage ceremony. As was noted during the ongoing meetings of the Metropolitan New York/New Jersey Orthodox-Roman Catholic Dialogue,

"while most Orthodox ecclesiastical provinces require that the marriage take place in the Orthodox Church only, recent synodal decisions of two (the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Church of Poland) recognize the validity of the sacrament of marriage performed by Roman Catholic priests provided that the Orthodox bishop gives his permission." 48 

Thus there is some significant variance on this point.

Nevertheless, even in the local Orthodox Churches that permit their members to marry in a Catholic ceremony, a Catholic cleric is still not permitted to celebrate a marriage inside an Orthodox church building, or to participate actively in an Orthodox wedding ceremony conducted by an Orthodox priest. If a mixed marriage is to be held inside an Orthodox church building, a Catholic priest may be invited to be present at the ceremony, but in no way is he to be seen to officiate alongside the Orthodox priest.

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From the Catholic standpoint: Can a Catholic marry an Orthodox and remain a Catholic in good standing? 

As noted in the section on current Catholic canon law on this subject, some significant barriers to Catholic/Orthodox intermarriage were eliminated relatively recently. A marriage between a Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic no longer requires a dispensation; now the law states that the parties need merely obtain "permission of the competent authority" if they wish to marry validly and licitly in the Catholic Church.

 And if the parties wish the marriage ceremony to take place in an Orthodox church building, provision is now made for this specifically in the code. While ordinarily Catholics must observe canonical form, i.e., they must marry in a Catholic church before the appropriate Catholic cleric and two other witnesses, this is not obligatory if the marriage is to take place instead in an Orthodox church. The parties need only obtain permission from the same authorities as above, and the marriage will be both valid and licit in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Even if the parties fail through their own fault to obtain this permission before the wedding takes place, Catholic canon law now holds that the marriage is valid, although in fact illicit.

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Conclusion 1: Reconciling the two standpoints: Can an Orthodox anda Catholic marry and both remain practicing members of their respective Churches in good standing?

As can already be seen, if a Catholic and an Orthodox wish to get married without at least one of them violating the canonical practices of his/her Church, there are fewer problems today than there have been for centuries. Both Churches technically forbid their members to marry persons of another faith, but are willing to make exceptions to this rule if it serves the well being of their members, especially if the other party to the marriage is a baptized Christian.

With regard to canonical form, each Church requires its members as a rule to marry in its own ceremony, before a member of its own clergy. However, a Catholic-Orthodox wedding may now take place in an Orthodox church building, before an Orthodox priest, without this posing any canonical problem for the Catholic party. And in at least some areas, as seen above, the opposite is also true, and an Orthodox may marry in a Catholic wedding before a Catholic cleric without being in violation of any tenet of his/her faith. [...]

One of the more tangible, concrete problems concerns the requirement of a second

Orthodox marriage ceremony, that is sometimes imposed on a couple that was married in the Catholic Church, if the Orthodox spouse wishes to be reconciled to the Orthodox Church. At the same time, as seen previously, Catholic canon law does not permit the Catholic spouse to do this. The New York/New Jersey commission noted that

"... some canonical provision [should] be made to resolve the problem which has great pastoral implications for Orthodox Christians marrying in the Roman Catholic Church. When an Orthodox Christian marries a Roman Catholic in a Roman Catholic ceremony, the Orthodox partner usually is separated from the participation in the sacraments of the Orthodox Church. In order to rectify the canonical situation of the Orthodox partner, current discipline requires that the marriage be regularized in the Orthodox Church. Any form of regularization should avoid giving the impression that the marriage which has taken place in the Roman Catholic Church does not have a fundamental sacramental character. Nor should it imply that a "new" ceremony is taking place. The goal is to reintegrate the Orthodox communicant into the full life of his/her own Church." 51

A way of avoiding this dilemma from the beginning exists already, of course, since the couple may now marry in an Orthodox ceremony with the recognition of the Catholic Church, and without the Catholic party incurring any sanction therefrom.