A catholic marriage in Dubai, UAE will involve arranging the wedding bands. The Church will also ask a couple to schedule a pre-marriage course, also referred to as a pre-cana seminar. A pre-cana is a short course for preparing for marriage. It helps ease the way for couples into married life.
The seminar will also tackle all the things that a couple should and shouldn’t do within the Church, most especially during the wedding ceremony.
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What takes place during a UAE pre-marriage course?
Depending on your diocese or chosen parish where you’ll have your church wedding in Dubai, there are several different ways a pre-cana seminar or pre-marriage course is carried out. It can involve any or all of the following:
- A weekend retreat together with different couples also scheduled for a wedding
- Meetings with the priest or deacon over a span of a couple of weeks
- A course is taken on a single day, which is usually on a weekend
- Several meetings with a married couple or sponsor who will act as the engaged couple’s mentor
The exact format of a pre-cana varies significantly from one parish to the next. The concept and content are, however, consistent with the following as the common topics to be discussed:
- Family of Origin
- Commitment
- Intimacy and Cohabitation
- Conflict Resolution
- Careers of Both Partners
- Spirituality and Faith
- Children and Parenting
How long does the pre-marriage seminar in UAE last?
The duration of a pre-cana or pre-marriage seminar will depend on the parish that you choose for the church wedding in Dubai or anywhere in UAE. There are pre-marriage courses in UAE that only take a few hours to complete. There are also other parishes that schedule a seminar for up to two days. A pre-cana, depending on the parish, can be broken into several sessions carried out over a span of a few days or weeks.
Can a non-Catholic take a pre-marriage course in UAE?
If one party to a church wedding in Dubai is not Roman Catholic, he or she can still take the pre-cana seminar. The Catholic Church doesn’t forbid the members to marry people who aren’t Catholic. However, you will be married in a Catholic church so there is a need to follow its rules.
For decades, it’s already been a practice of the Catholic church to marry a Catholic with a non-Catholic. But, to ensure the holy matrimony gets pushed through, a Catholic party in a relationship is required in preserving his or her own faith. The Catholic also has to ensure that the offspring gets baptized at the appropriate time and educated with the teachings of the Catholic church.
These will also be tackled during the pre-marriage course in UAE. It is best to prepare your answers when you’re asked with regards to your plan for your children and their faith. It can seem nerve-wracking to have to talk to a priest and reassure him of your plan on carrying out your obligations to the church. Don’t fret as you won’t be restricted in marrying a person of different religion.
Read also: How to Get CENOMAR in Dubai
How can we benefit from a pre-marriage course in UAE?
A pre-marriage course in UAE offers a couple the opportunity in acknowledging what’s good in the relationship. It also allows for a celebration of the couple’s journey of discovery that already began when the two individuals first met. It’s a time as well to gain valuable insight into the potential conflict areas that stem from different viewpoints for important topics like lifestyle, commitment, and parenting.
If such issues arise in the future, the couple will already ready to deal with them as they’re better equipped with experience and knowledge which are gained on the pre-marriage course in UAE. The church recognizes that there isn’t a perfect married life. The goal of the church is to help couples address issues together and more effectively.
A pre-marriage course in UAE will also involve trained facilitators that will introduce various exercises. The exercises will help open doors for further discussion, learning, and reflection. Examples of the exercises are as follows:
- Role-playing – facilitated by either a priest, sponsor, or trained facilitator. The role-playing will be for typical situations that arise and bring couples into disagreement or conflict. The purpose of the exercise is to help you find out the best ways in handling conflict, as well as to communicate more effectively.
- Discuss opinions on crucial topics – this is aimed at having a better understanding not only of your own personal values but also your relationship and your partner’s beliefs.
- Writing down and sharing personal aspirations – this is often done privately between a couple. It can be anything under the sun from the expectation of being the best parent to values that you want to instill or pass on to children and career hopes.
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