My boyfriend and I are both catholics. However, he has been married before in a civil ceremony with a registrar. We were wondering if we could get remarried in a catholic ceremony in church or because he is a divorcee if we would be allowed to do this.

-- claire hayes (maggielynch@eircom.net), October 22, 2002

Answers

Jmj

Hello, Claire.
Any time a person has gone through any kind of wedding ceremony (Christian or non-Christian, whether according to Catholic canonical form or not) with a person who is still alive, those two people cannot attempt marriage to anyone else without first obtaining a Decree of Nullity, issued by a bishop after the work of a marriage tribunal. The reason is that the Church presumes that the marriage is valid (regardless of a divorce) until the opposite can be proved.

Therefore, your friend needs to visit his (or your) Catholic pastor as soon as possible and explain the whole situation to him, to see if you can get the nullity process moving. If the tribunal issues a Declaration of Nullity you and your friend will be free to marry one another. [If your friend was really Catholic on the day of his "civil ceremony," then his attempt at marriage was almost surely invalid, so the nullity process should go fairly rapidly.]

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), October 22, 2002.