Bringing Your Marriage Into the Church

Monsignor Champlin explains the process by which marriages that are otherwise not fully recognized are validated in the eyes of the Church. "Regardless of why couples marry outside the Church and later seek a Church wedding," Champlin writes, "the benefits of convalidation are enormous: peace of heart, oneness with the Church, reception of the sacrament of matrimony, and God's special blessing upon the marriage." UPDATED IN 2015.