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Question Title	Posted By	Question Date
Annulment	Erin	Thursday, April 30, 2009
Question: I am a Catholic who was married by a justice of the peace and subsequently divorced 3 years later. We never had the marriage blessed by the Church and were very young and inmature at the time. (I was only 18 and my husband committed adultery). Would I still be required to file for an annulment in order to be remarried in the Catholic Church? My other question is about my current fiance. He was married in the Catholic Church to a woman that he had made pregnant. She was 7 months pregnant when they were married and her family pressured them to get married. They were later divorced. Since we have been talking about marriage we have been discussing an annulment and he is concerned about his children with this woman and them not understanding why he had their marriage annuled. His family is also very against him filing for an annulment and have said they would rather see us married without the blessing of the church then for him to annul the marriage to the mother of his children. I am very distraught because I feel that his family will try to sabbotage his attempts to file an annulment. I think that a lot of his and their concern stems from not understanding the process and implications of annulment and I am at a loss of words to try and explain. Any words that you could share with me to help me explain this to his family and to him would be greatly appreciated. I love this man and want to spend my life with him, but I want it to be the right way. Thank you,
Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM Dear Erin: Many people misunderstand annulment. When the Church declares a marriage null it is saying that a Sacramental Marriage never existed. A civil marriage did exist, and thus the children are fully legitimate, if that is their worry. The only issue of concern to the Church is whether or not the marriage was Sacramental. Your marriage was not valid as it was outside of the Church. His marriage may also be invalid because he was pressured to marry. Marriage under duress impairs free consent and can be grounds for annulment. You need to talk with your parish priest to see what may be needed in your case. He also needs to see the local parish priest about filing for an annulment right away. There is no way the parents can "sabotage" the annulment. What are they going to say? That the marriage was a loving union with no pressure? Such lies will be caught easily. When he files for annulment he will provide the Church with a list of witnesses to his marital relationship. This list can be his friends, his enemies, anyone who has knowledge of the circumstances of his getting married and the course of his marriage. He needs to tell his witnesses to NOT try to make him look good. Tell the whole truth, warts and all. The Marriage Tribunal will examine the whole record and make a decision. But, what is important to remember is that the Annulment DOES NOT EFFECT the children at all. The children are legitimate regardless. You can get more information from your Diocese. They may have a brochure on the Diocese website. As an example, here is the Annulment process as described by the Diocese of Austin God Bless, Bro. Ignatius Mary Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum

Question Title

Posted By

Question Date

Annulment

Erin

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Question:

I am a Catholic who was married by a justice of the peace and subsequently divorced 3 years later. We never had the marriage blessed by the Church and were very young and inmature at the time. (I was only 18 and my husband committed adultery). Would I still be required to file for an annulment in order to be remarried in the Catholic Church?

My other question is about my current fiance. He was married in the Catholic Church to a woman that he had made pregnant. She was 7 months pregnant when they were married and her family pressured them to get married. They were later divorced.

Since we have been talking about marriage we have been discussing an annulment and he is concerned about his children with this woman and them not understanding why he had their marriage annuled. His family is also very against him filing for an annulment and have said they would rather see us married without the blessing of the church then for him to annul the marriage to the mother of his children.

I am very distraught because I feel that his family will try to sabbotage his attempts to file an annulment. I think that a lot of his and their concern stems from not understanding the process and implications of annulment and I am at a loss of words to try and explain. Any words that you could share with me to help me explain this to his family and to him would be greatly appreciated. I love this man and want to spend my life with him, but I want it to be the right way.
Thank you,

Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM

Dear Erin:

Many people misunderstand annulment. When the Church declares a marriage null it is saying that a Sacramental Marriage never existed. A civil marriage did exist, and thus the children are fully legitimate, if that is their worry.

The only issue of concern to the Church is whether or not the marriage was Sacramental. Your marriage was not valid as it was outside of the Church. His marriage may also be invalid because he was pressured to marry. Marriage under duress impairs free consent and can be grounds for annulment.

You need to talk with your parish priest to see what may be needed in your case. He also needs to see the local parish priest about filing for an annulment right away.

There is no way the parents can "sabotage" the annulment. What are they going to say? That the marriage was a loving union with no pressure? Such lies will be caught easily. When he files for annulment he will provide the Church with a list of witnesses to his marital relationship. This list can be his friends, his enemies, anyone who has knowledge of the circumstances of his getting married and the course of his marriage. He needs to tell his witnesses to NOT try to make him look good. Tell the whole truth, warts and all.

The Marriage Tribunal will examine the whole record and make a decision.

But, what is important to remember is that the Annulment DOES NOT EFFECT the children at all. The children are legitimate regardless.

You can get more information from your Diocese. They may have a brochure on the Diocese website. As an example, here is the Annulment process as described by the Diocese of Austin

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary

Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below:
Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum.
Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum
Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum
Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum
Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum