The First of the Church Interviews

Well Michael and I had our first interview with a priest today. We went to St. Catherine of Sienna located at Hurontario and The Queensway, and it was okay. The priest was nice enough, and there really won't be a problem with Michael and I getting married under the Roman Catholic church even though he is not Roman Catholic.

There are a few things that he has to do though. Michael is going to have to sign a petition basically stating that he will forever assist me in following my faith, and that he will also support with the baptism of our children and there roles in the church. Michael and I had talked about this before, and he doesn't have a problem with agreeing to these rules, but I don't think we're going to be picking this church.

I know this might sound a little shallow, but even though the priest was nice his english was horrible and that is very important to me. On the day of my wedding I want to be able to understand what the priest/minister is saying to us, because if we can't then it's all pretty useless in my eyes.

There are a few things that we will have to do, like get a letter from my parish (St. Peter's and Paul) allowing me to be married in a different Catholic church. A new baptism certificate from the church, and also a letter that Michael will have to sign. This is just the first stage and does not include the classes that will have to be taken later.

Also, we found that the priest was a little closed minded. I understand Catholocism is his chosen faith, but the way he was referring to inter faith marriages made it seem like they were impossible to have. I mentioned to him that my parents are of different religions (leaving out the part that they're divorced) and that they raised my brother and I in both until we chose. He made it very clear to us that if we chose to get married there that when we have kids they have no choice, and that we're chosing to raise them in the Catholic faith no if, ands or buts. To say the least I was not impressed with this mindset, and it in part turned Michael and myself off.

The other thing was that the Priest was late for our appointment. It wasn't like he had a good excuse, but he was in his office with the door locked, and was not answering his phone or the knocks on the door. We waited for about 10-15 minutes before he answered the door. We also were not he only ones outside his door, but three volunteers were there before us waiting. They were complaning about how this happens every week, and they don't understand why they don't listen to them to leave the door open. I was not impressed with this, and was disappointed with the lack of consideration the church was showing.

So although I think the church is beautiful, and it sits 700 people with ample parking at the moment it's a big no for this one. Perhaps things will change once we see a few more and compare, but until then this one is going to the back of the list.

* Sidenote: Did you know that there is this rule when interviewing for church you should not mention that you have booked the reception site first. This makes the priest upset like you are chosing your faith second.
Another reason that we were unhappy with this priest is that he kept referring to the people who ran the recption halls as evil since they do not give you your deposits back. We just thought it was a little.....I guess strange. Like I said previously he was a nice man, but I don't think that he was right for us.
Also, another thing that I've been thinking about more and more is how can someone who can never be married successfully council me in marriage. I'm not saying they're not educated, but with this minister everything was solved with prayer. Even though I still pray a relationship takes a lot of hard work, and even if a prayer might help (if you believe in that), it takes two people to work it out.

Okie doke until next time :)