Page 8 - KOG Glory & Grace Issue 9, Feb 2023, "Home"

PAGE 8
Two young people, both with passionate faith, meet and fall in love. Unwilling to ask the other to give up the faith that anchors and animates them, they consult the parish priest to help them navigate a future that honors both Catholic and Lutheran traditions. “Three times he asked ‘will Diane become Catholic?’ Dennis remembers the priest asking during their premarital sessions. "When we said 'no' three times, we left that conversation and knew we had to find another way."
Though it seems unremarkable today, back in 1970 marriages between Catholics and non-Catholic Christians were discouraged by the Catholic Church. Trying to prevent "division within the Church," Canon Law stated that a Catholic would be excommunicated if one 'entered into the contract of marriage before a non-Catholic minister.' If Diane wasn't going to become Catholic and Dennis couldn't be married in a Lutheran Church without penalty, then how could they marry? “We both valued our traditions a lot," Diane recalls. "Neither of us wanted the other to switch."
Fortunately, a priest from Eastern's campus ministry (now MSUB) did some digging and was able to find a way forward for them. On June 6, 1970 Diane and Dennis were married at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, with a special dispensation from Canon Law, making Dennis the first Catholic in Montana to not be excommunicated for "contracting marriage before a non-Catholic minister" (Canon 2319). It wasn't until October of 1970 when the penalty prescribed by Canon 2319 was abrogated for all.
Dennis and Diane Powers
The Powers' married life took them to Bozeman, Dallas, St. Louis, and finally back to Billings in 1979. During these years they remained committed to honoring one another's faith traditions, so they alternated congregations (Catholic and Lutheran) each week. "We got to participate in lots of different ways of being church," Diane remembers, "which caused us to really appreciate the work of the Holy Spirit."
Trying to honor both faith traditions wasn't always easy, however. After having their first child they saw that the Catholic church they were attending was holding a special time of Baptism, so they showed up excited to have their infant baptized. Surrounded by a crowd of others who were coming for Baptism, they were denied the Sacrament because they were not both Catholic. Diane recalls: “I remember we had to walk out through this sea of people, weaving through them, with tears in our eyes. It was difficult. It hurt."