I am an ex-Catholic that was married in the Baptist church. After over twenty years of marriage we divorced. I have met and am considering marrying a Catholic woman, and have the following questions:

1. Is it possible for us to marry in the Catholic church?

2. If an annulment must be granted, is there any way to get an overview of what the chances of getting the annulment are? If it likely that an annulment will not be granted, it would be better for us to simply have a Protestant wedding (my preference anyway).

3. Since we are in Mexico, and the desired ceremony would be here, are there other things to be concerned about with the church here?

In all honesty, it was man-made laws like this (among other things), that originally drove me from the Catholic church.

-- Markus (tigermark1956@hotmail.com), November 09, 2004

Answers

Response to Ex-catholic, divorced to re-marry in the church??

Marcus, 1. Is it possible for us to marry in the Catholic church?

A: Yes, if you receive an annulment of your first marriage, and are open to certain conditions your wife-to-be must satisfy - primarily her declaration that marrying a non-Catholic will not constitute an impediment to the practice of her Catholic faith; and that she will do all in her power to have the children baptized Catholic, and to raise them in the Catholic faith.

2. If an annulment must be granted, is there any way to get an overview of what the chances of getting the annulment are? If it likely that an annulment will not be granted, it would be better for us to simply have a Protestant wedding (my preference anyway).

A: Not really. Only a marriage tribunal can rule on validity, and they cannot do so except after consideration of all pertinent information. In some cases there might be an obvious major impediment to marriage, in which case the granting of annulment would be virtually guaranteed. For example, if you were Catholic when you married in a Baptist church, then annulment would be quite certain, though you would still have to go through the process. But if you had already formally left the Church and were married as a Protestant, then the case is not as clear-cut.

3. Since we are in Mexico, and the desired ceremony would be here, are there other things to be concerned about with the church here?

A: I don't know. There could be additional local requirements. But no Catholic Church anywhere will witness your marriage if there is any question of a previous valid marriage.

In all honesty, it was man-made laws like this (among other things), that originally drove me from the Catholic church.

A: In all honesty, it is this kind of pastoral care which keeps God's Church holy, pure, and united. Some churches will just go ahead and baptize or marry anyone who walks in the door. God's Church has a divine mandate to oversee and care for the spiritual lives of its members, and so to guide their steps on the road to eternity. Other churches seem willing to water down the Word of God when it is convenient. The Catholic Church cannot and will not.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), November 09, 2004.

religion is wrong!

it is invented by people to manipulate and control!

'when religion was born

suddenly everything that was fun became a sin

people being held captured in illusions

promises about a life in heaven

...but everyone seems to forget,

that there's also a life before the death'

-- sdqa (sdqa@sdqa.com), November 11, 2004.

Indeed there is! Jesus came that we might have life and have it to the fullest! That doesn't just mean life in heaven. It also means the ability to live life to the fullest here on earth, to possess an inner joy and peace that never goes away even in the most difficult situations. It means taking off the blinders and seeing the world and life and people as they really are, free of the pitiful illusions which the ungodly must create for themselves just to survive. The Christians I know have plenty of fun - the kind they don't have to suffer the consequences for afterwards. The kind that builds and nourishes the spirit, not the kind that tears it down and eventually leads to self-destruction.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), November 11, 2004.