Saving a ‘lost generation’: Why one diocese is allowing outdoor weddings

You may remember this item from a couple weeks back. Now, some interesting takes on the thinking behind it, from the National Catholic Register: 

The Diocese of Helena’s policy permitting outdoor weddings is certainly historic, as outdoor Catholic weddings are almost unheard of in the United States.

Canon law states that the normal setting for a Catholic wedding is the parish church; however, it also makes clear that the local bishop can allow a wedding “to be celebrated in another suitable place” (1118).

As Father Mike Schmitz, chaplain for Newman Catholic Campus Ministries at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, noted in an online post, he has known individuals who have left the Church because they could not have an outdoor wedding, and he acknowledged that some have felt “confused and hurt” by this teaching.

…However, he noted that a diocesan bishop may grant exceptions to the norm for “serious reasons.”

[Helena Bishop George Thomas] knows that, in too many cases, the diocese’s policy of saying “No” to outdoor weddings has come at a steep price in the care of souls. He told the Register that he got tired of watching petitions for outdoor weddings on his desk result in strong Catholic parents experiencing the anguish of seeing a son or daughter decide to get married outside of the Church rather than not have their outdoor wedding.

“My concern is that we have a serious number of young people leaving [the Church],” he said.

Read more on the new wedding policy for the Diocese of Helena 

Bishop Thomas emphasized that his new policy, in his view, is necessary to prevent a “lost generation,” where the Church no longer has pastoral contact with these couples and their families.

A bold compromise came to Bishop Thomas: The couple would get an outdoor wedding in an appropriate, reverent place, in exchange for their firm commitment to go through thorough marriage preparation and participate actively in parish life, Sunday Mass and the life of the Church.

Bishop Thomas, laughing, recalls that his priests thought he had lost his mind.

“I said to them, ‘The Holy Father’s example is: You meet people where they are; you accompany them’ — and in this case, my hope is that by allowing this relaxation in the wedding policy that we will accompany them right into the heart of the Church,” he said.

Read it all.