www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship The Other Sacramental Mysteries Marriage question

Hello everyone,
Following my question on baptism, I have one regarding marriage.
It pertains to the situation of a marriage between a Latin Catholic and an Eastern Catholic.
Last year my father, who is a permanent deacon, told me he would be presiding at the wedding of a Lebanese couple.
I was alarmed, and told him that this might not be possible, since they were likely Eastern Catholic and would require a priest to bless the wedding.
In the end, it turned out that the groom was actually Latin Catholic, though the bride to be was Maronite. I was assured by a Maronite priest that this made it OK.
Today, while researching for info I came across an old thread from this very website where some state emphatically that such a marriage would be invalid. On the other hand, I have read that Canon 1109 of the (Latin) Code of Canon Law confirms it is ok, when it says that: "Unless the local ordinary and pastor have been excommunicated, interdicted, or suspended from office or declared such through a sentence or decree, by virtue of their office and within the confines of their territory they assist validly at the marriages not only of their subjects but also of those who are not their subjects provided that one of them is of the Latin rite."

Your thoughts?

Further, in the abovementioned old thread somebody mentions the existence of guidelines for marriage of Eastern Catholics in the Latin rite. I imagine this refers to something produced in the USA, perhaps even for a specific diocese. Does anybody know where I could find a copy of these guidelines?

The old thread I referred to:
https://www.byzcath.org/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/266342/Re_Marriage_Roman_and_Byzantin

Thanks!

Christ is Risen!!

Filipe YTOL,

The marriage of any Catholic is supposed to take place in the church of the groom. That probably means that the groom's sui juris Church's canon law takes precedence. Here it seems that the groom is Latin and that means Latin canon law applies. So your father was not doing something out of line. Beyond this, whether a priest or a deacon, all officiants at a wedding have all these questions vetted by their diocesan authorities long before anyone comes to church for the ceremony.

Many years ago, a Byzantine Catholic man married a Latin woman in a her parish not far from me. However, the man's Byzantine Catholic priest officiated the marriage in that parish church according to the ritual uses and laws of his sui juris Church. The administrator of the parish told me about the circumstances and borrowed icons from me to make the space a bit more Eastern.

I seem to recall there having been a significant number of nullity proceedings some time ago because RC deacons presided over mixed EC/RC marriages.

The archives here?

You were worried about a Latin deacon presiding over a Maronite wedding, but Canon 1109 allows it if one spouse is Latin Catholic. Specific marriage guidelines may vary by diocese.

You are quoting the Latin Code. The Eastern Code applies once at least one of the spouses is Eastern Catholic. A deacon cannot be delegated to bless a marriage of an Eastern Catholic. It must be a priest that blesses the marriage.