Any way for us to marry in church?

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My fiance and I are both Catholic and both divorced. I was married for 8 years to a Muslim man. We were married in an islamic ceremony but I never converted. My fiance was married in a Catholic ceremony in Poland and after 13 years of marriage his wife divorced him "behind his back" (he was away from the country on a job assignment, she filed for a divorce claiming abandonment and lied about not knowing his address abroad so the courts did not have a way to contact him and granted her divorce). He was married very young - under 21, so he needed his parents permission to be married (in Poland legal marriage age for a man is 21). He has 2 children.

My questions are: is there any possibility for us to have a church wedding? Was my marriage recognized by the church and am I free to marry or do I need to apply for an anulment? What about him? I don't know if there are any grounds for him to seek annulment. If I am free to marry (or can obtain annulment) but he is not, is it permissible for us to have a church wedding? I heard of Catholics being married in church to non-Christians (if they fulfill certain conditions) for the sake of the Catholic partner and future children. Please advise us what could be done as both of us would like to begin our life together the right way.

-- Monika (MonikW@aol.com), May 07, 2004

Answers

Yes a Catholic can marry a non-Christian under certain conditions. But one condition for any marriage is that neither partner is already married to someone else. Since you both were (are?) married to someone else, both of your former marriages would have to be examined by a marriage tribunal, to determine whether there are sufficient grounds for annulment. The only way you can marry each other in the Catholic Church is to receive annulments for both former marriages.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), May 07, 2004.

Paul M. said: Yes a Catholic can marry a non-Christian under certain conditions.

Just to clarify, Monika said that she and her fiance are both Catholic.

God bless you, Monika. I will pray for God to work everything out for you.

-- Emily ("jesusfollower7@yahoo.com), May 07, 2004.


Monika,

Yes you will both need anullments. Yours will be significantly easier to get than his given the facts you have related. You have what is called a "lack of form" case. This is a rather simple, documentary, case and will be based on the fact that you did not marry in the church when you married your former Muslim spouse. You will need to submit a copy of the following: your baptismal certificate, your marriage license, and your final divorce decree.

Your fiance will have to go through the full anullment process. There's not enough in your facts to determine if there is a case or not.

If both of you are free to marry you can get married in church.

Contact your local marriage Tribunal as soon as possible to begin working on all of this. Depending on the workload of the Tribunal a full anullment can take upwards of a year.

Hope that's helpful.

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


Thank you for all the answers. I really appreciate it.

A further question: since my fiance was married in Poland, I assume he would have to contact the tribunal over there. Does it have to be done in person? Also, would the tribunal contact the ex-wife? Would she have to testify? I strongly doubt she would be willing to do anything remotely "nice", especially if the result might not be to her advantage.

I don't want to have any false hopes and I rather don't expect my fiance to be granted anullment. They did rush to marry, but I doubt that could be considered a "defect". They did not decide to marry until my fiance's ex-wife's father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and they wanted him to be able to see his daughter get married. So they definitely did not think things trough, but it does not seem enough to declare that the marriage was not entered into properly. Would the tribunal examining his case ask questions or expect my fiance to present a "probable" cause like in a court proceedings?

Thank you.

-- Monika (MonikW@aol.com), May 10, 2004.


Monika,

The local Tribunal may be competent to hear the case. Yes they will have to attempt to contact his "ex." Her involvement is not required.

Given the brief history you've given I know of anullments granted for similar reasons. The grounds usually ended up being simulation or "lack of due discretion."

I would go ahead and begin the process.

Hope that's helpful.

-- Fr. Mike Skrocki, JCD (cand) (abounamike@aol.com), May 11, 2004.



At the same time, the facts of your boyfriends case are so similar to the facts in a Rota decision from fiteen years ago, its astounding. In that case, the petitioner was a very young American who married a very young Polish woman. She ended up abandoning him.

The case wound through the Rota several times trying to get annulled based on lack of due discretion. Each time the Rota said no.

I guess it all boils down to where you file to get the annulment..doesn't it?

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), May 11, 2004.


The question invites discussion. I already know the answer, and so should anybody else that reads this forum on a regular basis.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), May 11, 2004.

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