My boyfriend is Anglican and I am Catholic. I would like us to be married in the Catholic Church. He is ok with that as he has also had education in the Church as a child, and has agreed to put any children we have in Catholic school. First of all, he was married before by a Justice of the Peace and the marraige lasted 3 months. His young wife was not of any similar religious background. They are trying to process a divorce still. Can we ever be married in my Church? If not am I still able to Baptise our children Catholic. Thank you.

-- Trixi Morrison (tberndt@telus.net), June 08, 2003

Answers

Response to non catholic annulment? Also a baptism question.

I'm not well-read with annulment/marriage issues; your boyfriend may need to have his marriage annulled before you can marry in the Church. In any case, your children will be able to receive Baptism and the Sacraments. God bless!

-- Catherine Ann (catfishbird@yahoo.ca), June 08, 2003.

Response to non catholic annulment? Also a baptism question.

Wow, Trixi. Mighty blatant there, I'd say.

Sounds as though you are currently "burning" with lust (rather than true love) ... and you don't really care that this could leave you simply "burning" some day -- in hell forever.

Put on the emergency brakes now, young lady!
Wait for the divorce and the declaration of nullity (if these are really God's will) -- and be completely chaste in the meantime. Study your faith, especially the meaning of true Christian love and marriage. Then you will be prepared for your wedding and, I hope, for heaven (instead of hell).

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), June 09, 2003.

Response to non catholic annulment? Also a baptism question.

We can either choose to offer Trixi a guiding hand or we can offer her the back of our hand.

God Bless you Trixi and I hope you can find someone in our Church who is a help to you.

If this is what it means to be called Catholic, I think, I'm ready to go back to the faith of my youth . . . I'd just as soon be a Lutheran.

-- Leon (vol@weblink2000.net), June 09, 2003.

Response to non catholic annulment? Also a baptism question.

Leon,

What are you saying? Does not the hand have both palm and back -is not truth, truth -irregardless of messenger, method or side of hand?

Do you attempt disregard and diminish truth by attacking the method by which it is delivered? I assume much maybe -why do you not just state your point?

Be specific -I assume you agree with Church, therefore ask:

-is there a nice pastoral way to say that adultery is a sin? Further, does the church of your youth accomplish this or does it accept adultery?

-- Daniel Hawkenberry (dlm@catholic.org), June 10, 2003.

Response to non catholic annulment? Also a baptism question.

Trixi, Talk with a priest about your situation. You boyfriend may very well need a Writ of Nullity.

Do the right thing, even if it takes time. It will be well worth it in the long run.

Others, Compassion, compassion, compassion.

God Bless

-- john placette (jplacette@catholic.org), June 10, 2003.

Response to non catholic annulment? Also a baptism question.

John P, compassion sometimes requires "tough love," as demonstrated in what I told Trixi.
Please don't fixate on a few selected words in what I told her -- and miss the rest.
Read what she said. Note how terrible it was:
"I don't care about adultery issues in this case ... All I care about is to marry my boyfriend, in or without church, and have kids with him. That is more important than some adultery questions right now. Love is greater than all."

John P, you can tell her to go and "talk to a priest about [her] situation," but if you don't explain why it is necessary for her to do that -- namely, the avoidance of mortal sin -- she is likely to ignore you!

I get a feeling that you and Leon don't know how to tell a person that what (s)he is doing (or is about to do) is sinful, offensive to God. Or maybe you know how, but you mistakenly think that you don't have a duty to speak up. If the latter is the case, you are acting contrary to what Ezekiel tells us and the example of Jesus and St. John the Baptist, thereby endangering your own souls. [I will provide a quotation to back this up, if you wish.]

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), June 11, 2003.