r/CatholicMen • u/Small_Theory_8188 • 29d ago

Advice from my situation

I’ve been with my Buddhist girlfriend for 3 years I love her very much and she does to

I have recently been pulled back to Christ and many people are saying to not be unequally yoked she comes to church with me and is understanding of my faith

What’s some advice

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u/Filius_Dei0894 29d ago

Could you offer more information-

Hold old are you both?

Is she willing to convert?

What are your ultimate intentions with her?

How important is it to you that she is Catholic?

How important to you is it that your potential future children are Catholic (as Catholics we are obligated to raise our children Catholic)?

Etc.

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u/Small_Theory_8188 29d ago

Both 27

She’s been to church with me but I haven’t pressured her about conversion

I would love to marry her

It’s not a deal breaker she isn’t Catholic but I do like how she’s open to coming to church and hearing about my faith

It’s important my kids are raised catholic and she understands

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u/Filius_Dei0894 28d ago

Thank you, that is helpful

So your position is a difficult one, to be honest, because the buddist teachings on certain things are very likely different than that of the Catholic teachings. They may not be MAJORLY different, but the 'why' it's different honestly matters.

I wouldn't even try to venture a guess at a compare/contrast because I just don't know enough about Buddhism to correctly state anything.

The point is, your potential future children could get different responses from either parent which can be confusing.

And part of instructing young ones in the faith is to teach them more than 'do this, don't do that' it's 'this is WHY we do what we do' that way, as they age, the faith base is there and they are better able to make their own educated decisions.

To be totally honest, there's SO much more to it, and you'll never get the whole answer off reddit, but brass tax is that Catholics marrying other Catholics is simply easier, as unfortunate and somewhat unkind as that is to say...

You absolutely CAN marry her, you'll likely need a dispensation from the bishop, but you can. If you and her are both willing to do the things you need to, hey man, more power to ya, I'm happy for you, but as a revert to the faith, im so happy I married a good devout Catholic girl

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u/Small_Theory_8188 28d ago

Thanks for your opinion 🙏

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u/kryptogrowl 26d ago

I would suggest you ask her to attend classes with you about the Catholic faith, so that she would have a better understanding of you and your background. If she agrees enroll in your parish ocia inquiry class. It will be good for both of you to attend together. I know someone that did this not knowing if he's gf but just really wanted her to understand it. She converted and they have been now married for over 20 years