Please help! I am a non-catholic (baptized) engaged to a Catholic. I was previously married to a non-catholic (civil ceremony only) however this marriage has since been dissolved due to my ex-husband deciding to live as a practising homosexual. Am I able to get married in a church? Would I need to get an annullment? Thank you

-- Caro Simpson (carosimpson@hotmail.com), March 21, 2001

Answers

Response to Is annullment required in this case?

Yes you will have to have the Catholic Church look into the validity of your first marriage and find it "Null" never to have actually taken place, before a Catholic could validly marry you.

-- Br. Rich SFO (repsfo@prodigy.net), March 21, 2001.

Response to Is annullment required in this case?

Jmj

Dear Caro,
The Catholic marriage tribunal will need to decide whether or not, at the time of your vows, an impediment to a valid sacramental marriage existed. If the judges determine that your ex-husband was unable to give a genuine consent (because of a tendency toward homosexual/bisexual attraction -- or for other reasons), or if they determine that you could not give such consent (for any of several reasons), then they will render a judgment that your union was null -- not a Christian marriage, in God's eyes, after all.

We will be praying for you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jgecik@desc.dla.mil), March 21, 2001.

Response to Is annullment required in this case?

Hi, I needed some more help. My ex-wife commited adultry with another man, and we divorced. We got married to get her out of an abusive househould, and it was a religious ceremony, and neither one of us had been Baptized. That was 12 years ago (app), and now I was engaged to a wonderful Catholic woman who has helped me find God and has convicned me to become Catholic. However, now that she knows about this, everything has been called off and she said that I can't get an anullment. HELP! I can't let this happen! From what I've been reading, I can get an annullment. My previous marriage shows every evidence that it was not natural and should not have happened. Please, someone help me! I"m desperate to make things right and to fix my past mistakes. I want to marry here, and to live the rest of my life with her.

Jeffrey

-- Jeffrey Allison (jeffallison_123@hotmail.com), August 25, 2002.

Response to Is annullment required in this case?

Hello, Jeffrey.
You wrote: "However, now that she knows about this, everything has been called off and she said that I can't get an anullment. ... From what I've been reading, I can get an annullment."

She is mistaken. You are correct.
Tomorrow is Monday. Please call your friend's Catholic pastor and ask for an appointment to discuss the situation. Although your past "union" will be considered "presumptively valid" at the beginning of the process, the marriage tribunal may find it to have been invalid, leaving you free genuinely to marry for the first time in your life.

Spending this time with the pastor will also help you to become involved in instructions that will lead to your becoming a baptized Catholic. Please make that call tomorrow. Welcome to the Catholic household!

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 25, 2002.

Response to Is annullment required in this case?

Jeffrey, I am very confused now. I see that you told your story on a different thread (started by you) -- http://greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=009u4o -- but it contains different details. Here you say that your friend says that you "can't get an annulment." On the other thread, she says that you need to get an annulment. Here you say that you previous had a "religious ceremony." On the other thread, you say that it was not a religious ceremony.
I think that I will ignore this thread and assume you expressed yourself better on the other one.
JFG

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), August 25, 2002.