I am a practicing catholic and so is the man I am dating. He was married in an episcopal church even thought he was never episcopalean. Does the catholic church recognize this marriage and does he need an annullment to marry in the catholic church if we decide to get married?

-- Lillian Hernandez (lilyvine63@yahoo.com), January 07, 2003

Answers

Response to Can I marry a divorced episcopalean who does not have an annulled marriage?

Hello, Lillian.

The Catholic Church does recognize his marriage and presumes it to be valid until proved otherwise. Please arrange to have your friend meet your pastor to begin the process of petitioning for a Declaration of Nullity.

While this process goes forward (which may take from 9 to 18 months), I urge you to exercise the greatest possible prudence in your relationship with the man -- because, as you now realize, the Church may find that he is still married (in God's eyes), meaning that you would not be able to marry him until his wife dies.

To be completely honest with you, I would even advise that you do something that may seem impossible when you first read it: continue your friendship, but without dating. The reason for this advice is that it is not proper for an unmarried person (you) to date a married person (which he may still be). The dilemma is that, if you tell him that you don't want to date until after he has received a Declaration of Nullity, he may be unwilling to seek one. Would that be a test of his love for you -- to wait until the proper time to date? I think so.

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 08, 2003.