[suturegeisha]

Well said Chanel. And you're exactly right- a lot of the time the Church will require you to sign a statement promising to raise any children as Catholics if one of the spouses is of a different faith AND they want to marry in the Catholic Church. They didn't require a signed document for my mom and dad [my dad is Roman Catholic, my mom is Free Hungarian Reformed], but they did have to promise to raise their children Catholic [which they did], to baptize and confirm them in the Catholic church [which they didn't- I'm the only one of three sisters to have been baptized, had a communion and confirmed in the Church- my sisters have simply been baptized and had a communion] and to send their children to catechism lessons [which they did].

I also believe that this is similar in the Jewish faith- that if a couple wishes to marry in a temple and one is not Jewish, they must promise to raise their children Jewish. I could be wrong though, and please correct me if I am.

But, back to our dashing princes, it is ultimately a matter of love. If the Lux government and royal family require you to convert to a different religion and to sign away any rights to your children in the event of a divorce [and I'll add as a side note that divorce is not permitted in the Catholic Church at all- if you want a divorce, you must make a special appeal to HH the Pope and the Sacra Rota in Rome to have an annullment. If it's granted (and that RARELY happens) then you are free to marry again in the Church and take communion at Mass. If not, you may still get divorced legally, but in the eyes of the Church you will still be married and not permitted to marry someone else in a Catholic church or take communion-ever-for the rest of your life], then you have to stop and question whether or not you truly love someone so much as to take such a big step like that. That would be tough. And by way of example, I think that Crown Princess Mary has a lot of courage to do what she did.

-Kara-