Does my marriage require an annulment?

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I am a Roman Catholic who was married to a non-practing Protestant in a Non-Denominational church. The ceremony was performed by a Catholic Deacon. At the time, I was not a member of a parish and, quite frankly, I don't even remember how I got ahold of the Deacon to perform the marriage. But anyway, we didn't go through the pre-canna (sorry about spelling), we skipped that. The Deacon said it wouldn't be necessary since we were living together at the time.

Under my circumstances listed, would it be required for me to receive an annulment in order to remarry in a Catholic church? Of course, I am already divorced but am unsure if an annulment is necessary in my case. Thanks

-- P. Nyers (rockcrazed@aol.com), January 03, 2002

Answers

I am admittedly no expert regarding this issue, but it seems clearly a non-Canonical form marriage. But what puzzles me most is that an ordained Deacon would say it didn't matter as you were co-habitating, which is a state certainly contrary to the teachings of the Church. Is he still an active clergyman, and was he associated with Catholic parish at the time of your union?

-- Melissa (holy_rhodes@earthlink.net), January 04, 2002.

Dear P. Nyers,

You asked, "Under my circumstances listed, would it be required for me to receive an annulment in order to remarry in a Catholic church?"

The first thing that I should say is that, until a spouse dies, it is impossible for a Catholic to "remarry."
What you actually would like to do is truly "marry" for the first time, assuming that you were previously involved in an invalid "union."

Any time a person has gone through any kind of wedding ceremony (Christian or non-Christian, according to Catholic canonical form or not) with a person who is still alive, those two people cannot attempt marriage to anyone else without first obtaining a Decree of Nullity.

You need to discuss this as soon as possible with your Catholic pastor, who will help you to prepare the necessary papers for the marriage tribunal.

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.


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