Marriage & Family Life
Getting Started
A Wedding is a Day, A Marriage is a Lifetime
Congratulations on your decision to marry. The church rejoices with you and wants your wedding day and married life to be richly blessed. Our aim is to give you knowledge and skills in order that you might make your marriage the best possible, and to help you build a strong foundation for a lasting marriage.
Strong Marriages, Strong Families, Strong Communities
A Christian Marriage
A Christian marriage isn’t just a big ceremony held in a church with nice flowers and everyone wearing fancy clothes and taking lots of pictures. Marriage is an act of faith between a man and a woman who are both fragile and limited, but courageous enough to follow Christ and seek to love each other as he loves them’ Pope Francis.
At your wedding, you will make a commitment ‘to promise to be true to each other, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, and to love and honour each other all the days of your life..' Faithful to the teachings of Jesus Christ, we believe that marriage is life giving, permanent, exclusive and between a man and a woman.
The preparation forms to complete and the ceremony all assist you, the couple, to prepare for, and to appreciate what you are doing. With God’s grace, your bond of love is blessed and strengthened.
To view our "Getting Married" brochure please click on this link.
The Three Dimensions of Marriage Preparation - Priest, Paperwork, Marriage Preparation Program
We ask that you make contact with the priest whom you want to have officiate at your wedding as soon as possible; and at least six months prior to the wedding. He will help you complete the necessary paperwork and provide part of your marriage preparation instruction.
Whether you are marrying here or overseas, all Catholic marriages require pre-nuptial papers to be completed with a priest. It is essential you contact your parish as soon as possible to arrange an appointment with a priest to complete the required marriage papers. This is required for all weddings, both in and outside the church building. It is also required if your marriage is taking place overseas or in another diocese. The marriage papers must originate from the place where you currently reside.
If your wedding is to be held outside the church, or in another diocese or overseas, the papers are forwarded by your priest to the Vicar for Marriages in the Auckland Diocese, who will then provide any further documentation required. The marriage papers are then sent to the appropriate Vicar in the Diocese where you are being married, then forwarded to the priest who is to officiate at your wedding. In particular for overseas weddings, sufficient time must be allowed for this process.
The Church rejoices when couples come forward to prepare to enter the Sacrament of Marriage and embark on this great vocation of love and service. The Church wants to support every couple in their marriage and one way we do this is to offer Marriage Preparation programs.
The programs run by the Catholic Diocese of Auckland provide engaged couples with the knowledge, skills, and formation they need to have a happy, holy, lifelong marriage.
It is expected that any one marrying in the Auckland Diocese undergo an approved marriage preparation course. The details of these can be found here.
