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REV. HENRY V. SATTLER, C.SS.R,VERY citizen of the United States, whether Catho-lie, Protestant, or Jew, knows that the Catholic Church is opposed to mixed marriage between people of different faiths. Few, however, realize the reasons behind this objection. Non-Catholics, and even some Catholics, think that the Church cares only about losing members. They imply that she is concerned with membership statistics only in order to be able to boast about the numbers of Catholics in the world. True, the Church is worried about leakage, but not simply because she wants to boast of thenumber of her communicants, or to get bigger collections on Sunday morning! She wants every man, women, and child to reach heaven, and she wants each to walk the same road to that destination.I can conceive a Catholic falling in love with a non-catholic, just as I can conceive an American falling in love with a Communist, but I cannot conceive the American in the latter situation not wanting to change his viewsor those of his beloved. Again, I cannot conceive theAmerican’s willingness to raise the children as Communists. I am not saying that non-Catholics are anarchists, but I am saying that the difference in point of view between a Catholic and a Protestant is as great as it is between an American and a Communist.More souls are lost to Catholicism and to God through mixed marriages than from any other source. Reliable studies indicate that approximately 25% of all valid mixed marriages are lost completely to God, and another 20% attend church services only from time to time. Somewhere from five to 20%, of the children of mixed marriages are not even baptized, and from 30 to 40% receive no formal instruction in their faith!These frightening statistics are not drawn solely from Catholic sources. A Methodist, Dr. Leiffer, says, “The most common pattern in marriages between people of different religious backgrounds is the development of indifference towards the Church. Not only is religion omitted from conversation, it does not enter significantly into the thinking of the parents. Usually this is reflected in lack of religious training for the children.”oF course, many who read this article will say, “I know many mixed marriages which have worked.” Even if I were to grant that this were true (and fortunately it often is true), is this how you would like to describe what you now think of as triumphant love? Suppose I ask you, “How do you like your car?” If you answer with a shrug, “It works,” would this be high praise? If I ask you, “How do you like your job?” and you answer, “It’s work,” would this show any enthusiasm for your way of earninga living? In the same way, talking about mixed marriagesa“which work” is hardly praise of them. The real questionis not “Can a mixed marriage work?” but “Can a mixedmarriage be fully and completely happy, even from the temporal point of view?”For a Catholic, marriage is a miniature union re-living in the twentieth century — of Christ and Church. How could this possibly be realized when one partner might not even recognize Christ and His Church? Love by its very nature seeks union. If one partner in a marriage is not a member of Christ’s Body, the Church, there will always be part of the Catholic partner which cannot be united to the non-Catholic. Pope Pius XI says, “There will be wanting (in a mixed marriage) that close union of spirit which, as it is the sign and mark of theChurch of Christ, so also should it be the sign of Christian wedlock, its glory and adornment.”St. Paul says, “Wives, be subject to your husbands as to the Lord,” and in another verse, “Husbands, love wives as Christ also loved the Church.” In true Catholic thinking, could Christ be truly and completely united with a heretic or a schismatic? If He cannot, neither can a Catholic husband or wife be truly and completely united with their non-Catholic spouse.Just recently, a young mother came up to me and said, “Father, I have not met you personally, but you have been haunting me for the past five years!” I was amazed and immediately asked what she meant. She answered, “I heard you give a talk five years ago in another city. The question was asked whether mixed marriages could be truly and completely happy. You answered, 'Though a mixed marriage can be reasonably successful, I do not believe that a mixed marriage can be trulv perfectly happy because the whole norm of perfect unity,the unity of Christ and His Church, cannot be achievedin a mixed marriage.’ ”“At that time, Father,” she continued. “I was readvwandto get up and object vigorously, because I was in a mixed marriage then and considered myself very happy. But since that time your words have been ringing through my mind again and again. Finally, I took instructions and became a Catholic just a year ago.” I said to her, “My dear, I have only one question for you. Was I right?” This lovely lady simply looked into my eyes with a depth of meaning that I cannot put on paper and said, “Yes.”Therefore, don’t get mixed! As a Catholic, envisionyourself married only to a Catholic. A Catholic marriage will safeguard and develop your own faith; it will protect your partner’s faith. It will insure Baptism and Christian education for each of your children. Finally, aCatholic marriage willunityfull, complete, happy, and holy.your love to a triumphant
Newspaper Details
Dallas Texas Catholic
Dallas, Texas, US
Sat, Dec 28, 1957
Page 21
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
TX, USA 14 May 2021
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