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Pastor’s Letter: August 2, 2026

Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,

A blessed beginning to August for you all! Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the opportunity to speak with several married couples who are navigating through health challenges. These people have shared reflections ranging from limitations in their mobility and shifting expectations of what they can do…all the way to thinking about having the soul at peace and ready if God’s time should come. One of the things that has been so consistent in those conversations has been a couple’s faith and concrete examples of how they experience God at work in their marriage.

Continuing our review of the Sacrament of Marriage, this week we are looking at the Church’s wisdom in having weddings take place in front of the altar. Did you know that Catholics are required to be married in a church? I have discovered through the years that people don’t always know that Catholics who are getting married have requirements that the Church asks of them. First of all, marriage preparation is required—as we reviewed a couple weeks ago the typical preparation is 8-12 months before the wedding. As noted by the Statutes of the Diocese of Peoria, elements of this required preparation can be “dispensed” by a pastor for a just reason (6.13.4). [As a side note, a “dispensation” is an exemption from a Church law by a competent authority—typically it is the Bishop or someone he designates]. Another requirement for Catholics is being married in a church. “Catholic marriage liturgies shall always take place in a church or oratory. The permission of the Bishop or vicar general is required in the extraordinary situation that a marriage celebration is requested in another location” (Statutes of the Diocese of Peoria, 6.13.6). Most commonly, other locations requested are churches where a non-Catholic spouse grew up or has family history. These permissions are commonly given and the regular minister of that particular church is..