Marriage is a beautiful vocation and a sacred covenant. In our Catholic tradition, marriage is understood as a lifelong partnership of love and fidelity between a man and a woman. Their self-giving love reflects God’s love and becomes visible in the life they share, in the children they may welcome, and in their service to one another and the wider community.
For baptised Christians, marriage is not only a natural bond but also a sacrament, because the love of husband and wife mirrors the love between Christ and the Church. The Church presumes every marriage—Catholic or otherwise—to be valid unless proven otherwise.
If you are considering marriage within the Diocese of Wollongong, your first step is to speak with the parish where you hope to be married. Your local priest or deacon will guide you through the preparation process and help you understand what is needed for a Catholic wedding. You can find your local parish here.
A few helpful things to know
We recognise that every couple’s situation is unique. The below information may assist as you begin your marriage preparation:
Validity of marriage
Catholics are ordinarily married in a Catholic church before a Catholic priest or deacon. If a Catholic wishes to marry in another setting or tradition, a dispensation may be granted.
For a Catholic to marry validly in the Catholic Church, both parties must be free to marry—that is, neither has been previously married unless the prior marriage has been declared null by the Church or has been dissolved.
The Church presumes all previous marriages—Catholic, civil, Christian, or non-Christian—to be valid unless the Tribunal determines otherwise.
Marriages involving someone from an Eastern Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Church have particular requirements, as only priests validly celebrate those marriages.
These principles exist to protect the sacredness of marriage and the wellbeing of those entering it. Your parish priest or deacon can gently guide you through what applies to your circumstances.
Marriage preparation
Couples preparing for marriage in the Catholic Church are encouraged to meet with their priest or deacon at least six months before the intended wedding date. This allows enough time for meaningful preparation, completion of any required documentation, and a prayerful approach to the sacrament. You can find your local parish here.
For more reading on Catholic marriage, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference has produced a helpful FAQ booklet.
If either of you has been married before
If one or both parties have been previously married and are now civilly divorced, please contact the Diocesan Tribunal as early as possible—even if you have already received a declaration of nullity from another Christian community.
The Tribunal team is here to help and will speak with you confidentially and sensitively:
Please note that no wedding date should be booked, even tentatively, until you and/or your partner have spoken with the Tribunal to understand the next steps.
Clergy marriage forms
If you need to complete any forms relating to marriage (such as applications, permissions, or dispensations), these can be downloaded below:
Account means the account held at your financial institution from which we are authorised to arrange for funds to be debited.
Agreement means this Direct Debit Request Service Agreement between you and us, including the direct debit request.
Business day means a day other than a Saturday or a Sunday or a listed public holiday.
Debit day means the day that payment is due.
Debit payment means a particular transaction where a debit is made, according to your direct debit request.
Direct debit request means the Direct Debit Request between us and you.
Us and we and our means the Catholic Development Fund.
You means the customer(s) who signed the direct debit request. Your financial institution is the financial institution where you hold the account that you have authorised us to arrange to debit.
Debiting your account
By submitting a direct debit request, you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account according to the agreement we have with you.
We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account:
As authorised in the direct debit request; if the debit day falls on a day that is not a business day, we may direct your financial institution to debit your account on the following or previous business day. If you are unsure about which day your account has or will be debited, please check with your financial
Changes by you
If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must write to us at least 5 business days before the next debit day.
This notice should be given to us in the first instance.
Your obligations
It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made.
If there are insufficient clear funds available in your account to meet a debit payment:
you or your account may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution;
you or your account may be charged a fee to reimburse us for charges we have incurred for the failed transaction;
you must arrange for the payment to be made by another method
Please check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.
Dispute
If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account you should call us on (02) 4222 2444 and confirm the details in writing with us as soon as possible so that we can resolve your query quickly.
Accounts
You should check:
with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your accounts offered by financial
your account details which you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement; and
with your financial institution before completing the direct debit request if you have any queries about how to complete the direct debit
Warning: if the account number you have quoted is incorrect, you may be charged a fee to reimburse our costs in correcting any deductions from:
an account you do not have authority to operate; or
an account you do not
Confidentiality
We will keep any information (including your account details) in your direct debit request confidential.
We will make reasonable efforts to keep any such information that we have about you secure and to ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you, do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.
However, we may use your contact details to provide information about the fund. Should you wish this not to be the case, please advise the fund in writing.
Disclosure statement
The Catholic Development Fund, Diocese of Wollongong (the Fund) is required by law to make the following disclosure: The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). Investments in the Fund are intended to be a means for investors to support the charitable, religious and education works of the Diocese of Wollongong and for whom the consideration of profit are not of primary relevance in the investment decision. The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and any investment of the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed at www.cdfwollongong.org.au or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.
We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.
The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is bluerepresenting the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is greendepicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.
