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Paradise
Weddings, Inc.
98-1277 Kaahumanu St.
Suite 37 PMB-368
Honolulu, Hawaii 96701
Phone: 808-664-0673
Fax: 808-484-2559
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Catholic Weddings in
Hawaii Each year thousands of Catholic couples come from around the world to exchange their marriage vows here in the beautiful tropical South Pacific Islands of Hawaii. One of the most beautiful places in the world to begin their lives together as man and wife. Catholic weddings are very beautiful, and each part of the ceremonies hold a lot of symbolic meaning to the couples as well as the wedding guests and family members witnessing the couple exchanging their vows.
Catholic or Roman Catholic? Many people mistakenly believe that "Catholic" refers only to the Roman Catholic Church, this is not true at all. The Roman Catholic Church is just one of the many Catholic churches around the world which include the Old Catholic Church, American Catholic Church, Independent Catholic Church, Ecumenical Catholic Church, Coptic Catholic Church, Ethiopian Catholic Church, Syriac Catholic Church, Hungarian Greek Catholic Church, Apostolic Catholic Church, Holy Catholic Church - Western Rite, and over two dozen others. Each church is a part of the "Catholic Church". All Catholic Churches are in apostolic succession, with their apostolic lines tracing directly back to the original twelve apostles and Jesus Christ himself. At no time in history were all Catholic churches around the world under the authority of the Bishop of Rome, or the "pope" as the Roman Catholic Church calls him. The Bishops of Rome decided in the 11th century that they should be the head of the Catholic Church around the world by claiming sole, supreme and absolute authority over the whole Church. Up until this point, there was only ONE Church in the world, ONE Catholic Church, with each area under the authority of a local bishop, but when this decision was made by the Bishop's of Rome of the 11th century, it caused a massive division in the church. The Catholic Church then was divided into two churches. The Catholic Church of the East ( Eastern Rite), and the Catholic Church of the West ( Western Rite ).Since that time many more divisions have occurred, many of which have been caused by the various Bishops of Rome trying to claim more and more power and authority around the world, and by the Bishops of Rome changing the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic Church that were handed down from Christ through the twelve apostles and early Church fathers. The Roman Catholic Church ( Latin Rite) is the ONLY Catholic Church in the world that recognizes the supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome and blindly accepts anything that he says without question. The Ecumenical Catholic Church of America is an autocephalous Catholic Jurisdiction under the authority of a Patriarch, similar to other Orthodox (meaning right belief) and Catholic churches around the world, and follows the apostolic orthodox Catholic traditions and teachings passed down to the Catholic Church from the apostles and early church fathers.There are many similarities between the Ecumenical Catholic Church of America and the Roman Catholic Church because we are both Catholic Churches, but there are also a lot of differences between the two. We pray that one day, God will bring all of the Catholic churches around the world back together once again into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church that Jesus Christ himself established. The main difference in Catholic marriages between the Ecumenical Catholic Church and the Roman Catholic Church is that the RCC in the United States will not allow you to have your ceremony at any place outside of the church building. The RCC does allow weddings outside of the church building in other parts of the world, but here in the United States, they rarely ever allow this option unless there are dire reasons as to why the ceremony can not be performed inside the church building. And before you ask, No, wanting to have your ceremony at sunset on a beach is NOT a good enough reason for the RCC to authorize it. Rarely, a wedding will be authorized in a hospital, or nursing home, if the patient can not be moved to the church building for the ceremony, but that's about the only time it is authorized. The Ecumenical Catholic Church does allow Catholic Marriage ceremonies to be performed in other locations outside of the church building, including outdoors on the beach in most cases. So yes, you CAN have the Catholic Wedding Ceremony on a beautiful Hawaiian beach at sunset like you have always dreamed about! Catholic marriage ceremonies performed outdoors or at any location other than inside a church building will be the same ceremony as if they were performed inside the church building. With all the formality, symbolism, and beauty that the Catholic Marriage Ceremony is known for, and in many cases, including mass. Only the Ecumenical Catholic Church, can provide a Catholic Marriage Ceremony at any location other than a church building in the State of Hawaii. I know what you are probably asking yourself now, "if I have a Catholic wedding ceremony on a beach or outside of the church building, will the Roman Catholic Church recognize the wedding?" Since the Roman Catholic Church only recognizes marriages which take place within the confines of the Roman Catholic Church building, the answer to this is no, they will not recognize the wedding right away, but there is a very simple way to have the Roman Catholic Church recognize the marriage. After the wedding, all the couple have to do is go back to their parish priest and let them know that they wish for their marriage to be recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Depending on the circumstances of the couple, they will have to adhere to the conditions of the Roman Catholic Church to have their marriage recognized, which may include pre-cana (marriage preparation) course, annulments of previous marriages, etc. Once the impediments have been taken care of, the priest will perform a ceremony with the couple and their marriage will then be recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Also, both parties do NOT have to be Roman Catholic before the Roman Catholic Church will recognize the marriage, but one of them does have to be an active member of the Roman Catholic Church. As you can see, it is very easy for you to have a Catholic wedding on a beach, or almost anywhere else that you desire, and still have the marriage recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, if that is important to you. We perform dozens of Catholic weddings every year for Roman Catholic couples, as well as Catholic couples from other Catholic churches around the world.
What if I want a Roman Catholic Wedding? If you prefer to have a Roman Catholic Wedding Ceremony inside a Roman Catholic Church building and you meet the requirements f the Roman Catholic Church, we can still assist you in getting this set up. We need to start the process at least 6 months in advance of the desired wedding date because there is a lot of preparation that is required before your wedding will be approved here in the Honolulu Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. Contact us and we can discuss your situation and explain your options.
Roman Catholic Marriage Guidelines of the Diocese of Honolulu
© Copyright 2008 HawaiiCatholicWeddings.com, All Rights Reserved. HawaiiCatholicWeddings.com is a division of Paradise Weddings, Inc. and a ministry of the Ecumenical Catholic Church of America and as such, proceeds collected from our products and services will be used by the Church to further the mission of the Church, which include Homeless Feedings and other community projects for the underprivileged. All prices are subject to change without notice. All sales and services will be subject to 4.712% Hawaii General Excise Tax. |
