I am a practicing Catholic and my boyfriend is a non-practicing Protestant. He has been married twice before and I have never been married. His first marriage was performed in a Protestant Church and the second was a civil service. Would he need to get an annulment for either marriage if we decided to marry? I would want to be married in a Catholic Church.

-- Kathryn Smith (kwsween@attglobal.net), January 12, 2002

Answers

Jmj

Hello, Kathryn.

The following, I believe, is a reliable principle:
"Any time a person has gone through any kind of wedding ceremony (Christian or non-Christian, whether 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, issued by a bishop after the work of a marriage tribunal."

Therefore, your friend should work with your pastor to begin the tribunal's process of considering his "putative marriages." Each one, in chronological order, must be found "invalid" by the tribunal before he would be free to marry you. There must be two Decrees of Nullity issued in his case. [This procedure can be verified by reading the following article written by a tribunal judge.]

Kathryn, I will pray for you to make wise decisions in your life. I hope that you have considered and reflected on the great difficulties you face. From your message, I know of only three, though you may know of others: (1) your not sharing the same religion, (2) his lack of religious practice, and (3) his probable belief that marriage is not "till death do us part," while you (as a Catholic) believe the opposite.

God bless you.
John

-- (jfgecik@hotmail.com), January 12, 2002.