I would like to become a Catholic and start attending church. Naturally if I ever fall in love with a Catholic man I would like to marry in the church. The problem is that I have already been married and divorced twice. Both marriages were civil unions carried out by a Justice of the Peace at the City Hall. Neither man was Catholic, although they were Christians. I think my second husband may have been baptised but I'm not sure. I believe in God but I have never been baptised. Can you please tell me what I need to do to make my life right with God? What do I need to do so I can be free to remarry in the Church? Thank you for your help.

-- C H (translationwizard@yahoo.com), May 05, 2004

Answers

Neither of the marriages you describe will be recognized as binding by the Church. They were civil contracts and were terminated by civil decree. You will have to submit the necessary information so that the Church can make formal declaration on them, but it will be a formality.

To become a member of the Church you will participate in a series of informative sessions called The Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). It is offered in most parishes, or your own parish can refer you to the closest place where you can make the RCIA. Upon completion of the series you will receive the sacraments of baptism, holy communion, and confirmation, and be received as a full member of the Catholic Church. Call your local parish (the specific church you plan on attending) and make an appointment to talk to the priest, to get things moving.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), May 05, 2004.

Hi CH, and welcome! What a great day this is for you. You've now taken that first step in that walk that will finally take you home. Good luck and rest assured you will be in our prayers.

Please keep us posted as to how things progress for you.

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), May 05, 2004.

C.H.

Paul's answer above is inaccurate. Your previous marriages will have to through the full annullment process to see if they are valid or not. Where the marriage of non-Catholics is concerned the Church recognizes whatever law was binding on that person. If your non- Catholic church recognized the marriages then the Catholic Church does also. Even if the marriages were only performed civilly. (Where Catholics are concerned, however, a merely civil marriage is NEVER recognized since Catholics are bound to Catholic marriage form - unless a dispensation has been given).

So, CH, talk to your local pastor and/or contact the Diocesan Marriage Tribunal where you live to start the process.

Hope that's helpful.

-- Fr. Mike Skrocki, JCD (cand) (abounamike@aol.com), May 05, 2004.

Father Mike, I don’t wish to confuse CH at this point, but is there not a possibility also that she could have her “non-sacramental” marriages dissolved without having to go through the annulment process since she was never baptized? Isn’t there a process called “Privilege of the Faith” whereby she could make application to Rome through her parish/diocese to dissolve her former “natural law” or “natural bond” marriages?

-- Ed (catholic4444@yahoo.ca), May 05, 2004.

My point was not that the annulment process could be bypassed, but that once submitted to tribunal, the marriages described would be declared null with virtual certainty, and most likely within a month or so, as opposed to one to two years when more complex issues are involved. As you said, the Church recognizes whatever law was binding on that person, relative to their marriage, and the law which was binding on this person was that a purely civil marriage contract can be dissolved by civil divorce, something any tribunal will uphold without question.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), May 05, 2004.

Some diocese tribunals delegate duties to diocesan priests in marriages that are obviously not valid by form.

The diocesan priest submits the proper paperwork to the tribunal who formalizes the findings. An Declaration of Nullity is then issued.

This is a short version of the process.

CH's "marriages" may fall into this category, but it would take a priest to help in the process.

Priests are there to help.

God bless,

-- john placette (jplacette@catholic.org), May 05, 2004.

To All,

True we don't know enough about CH's status to rule out certain options. Is CH already baptized? If the answer is yes then we must go through the annullment process.

Paul, still wrong. No tribunal is going to rule a marriage of a non-Catholic as invalid simply because it was a civil marriage that ended via civil divorce. The grounds may end up being something like error against permanence or sacramentality but it's still going to require a full anullment process.

Hope that's helpful.

-- Fr. Mike Skrocki, JCD (cand) (abounamike@aol.com), May 08, 2004.

CH said that she was never baptised. Therefore the pauline priveldge should apply.

Hugh

-- Hugh (Hugh@inspired.com), May 09, 2004.

Hi everyone and thank you for your kind answers. Just to clarify - I have never been baptised. I'm a bit confused still about whether I would have to go through the annulment process or whether Pauline Privilege would apply. Can anyone explain? Also where are annulments decided, in Rome or your home country? How about PP?

Also with regard to the first marriage, I married my boyfriend at the time because we wanted to qualify for student aid. We were in love and living together. But we never actually intended to be really "married". We did the ceremony in secret and didn't tell our families. We also had a pre-nup drawn up so we wouldn't have to share our property etc.

-- CH (translationwizard@yahoo.com), May 10, 2004.