Friday, May 11, 2007

Marriage in the Catholic Church

I need to get something off my chest regarding the beliefs of the Catholic Church.
Now most recently my fiancé and I fulfilled our requirements in order for us to get married by the Catholic Church. I have to say that it was one of the most stressful/difficult times in our wedding planning. It is still stressful. It made me think about some aspects of the church that I do not agree with. For one, Natural Family Planning. Well, this type of planning is perfect for married couples who want 5-10 children.
Speaking of children, my fiancé and I are undecided about having children of our own, but still talk about the possibility. Well, our biggest mistake was saying this to the priest. Apparently, zero children equal an invalid marriage in the eyes of the Catholic Church. Plus, it seems like the church is still living in the 1950’s who want women barefoot and pregnant much of the time. Luckily, we emphasized to the priest that we are open to having children. However, that does not make us any less Catholic than the married couples who are “fruitful.” The reason why I went through this process in the first place is because I want God in my marriage. That is important.
This leads me to priests and marriage. I do not think that it is right for a priest to tell me it is my duty to have children when they are not allowed to marry nor have children of their own. Who do they go home to every night?
I feel that priests should be allowed to take a wife. Then they can really understand what marriage is all about and have someone in their life to share things with. Not only that, there would probably be less problems with priests who molest children. Sadly, that is the big joke with the Catholic Church nowadays.
The issue is not just with priests either. Why should marriage be restricted to only heterosexuals who are not priests? I have become more open minded these days about certain issues thanks to the mass media. Marriage should not be limited to certain groups of people. Heterosexuals, homosexuals, and priests: They all should be allowed to marry. My fiancé and I are getting married by a Deacon, and Deacons are allowed to marry. With the divorce rate high, the certain people who are allowed to marry apparently do not take marriage seriously anyway. Some people suggest that divorce is actually declining, but more and more couples decide to just live together instead of getting married. This really does not make sense to me. The group of people who do have the constitutional right and the opportunity to get married end up not going through with it at all. Hmmm…just something to ponder.
Now I do not know if priests will be allowed to marry in my lifetime, but I think that someday the rules will change.
I for one am happy that God will be a part of my marriage whether or not this union eventually brings children. One of the most important things to me right now is knowing that God will make for a stronger marriage…one that lasts forever.