I am wondering if I will be able to get married within the catholic church, assuming I complete a conversion to catholicism. I have never practiced religeon, and do not know if I was baptized as a child or not. (I was adopted and do not have any records) I was married to a jewish woman by a justice of the peace, and have since divorced. She was poreviously divorced from a catholic man, after being married to him by a rabbi. Neither he nor she had sought to have that marriage annuled. What will be my position if I seek an annulment?

-- Greg Hill (gregh@evy.com), February 24, 2003

Answers

Hi Greg,

Unless I am very much mistaken, because your civil marriage was not solemnised before a Catholic priest, an annulment would be very easy to get.

Chris.

-- C C Seber (urgency9999@hotmail.com), March 01, 2003.

What's your current GPS position?

-- Isaac Newton (IsaacN9@hotmail.com), March 03, 2003.

Jmj
Hello, Greg.

The first question to answer is this: "Is the Jewish woman to whom you may have been married still alive?" If not, then you are free to be married without delay.

But, assuming she is still alive ...
With the help of your new Catholic pastor, you would have to ask your diocesan marriage tribunal to look into your situation. You (and other witnesses, if possible) would have to provide the written information that the tribunal would need.

The judges would first have to determine whether or not the first apparent marriage (Jewish woman and Catholic man) was valid. [The fact that they were married before a rabbi does not automatically imply invalidity.]
---- If that marriage was valid, then the woman was not free to marry you, so your attempt to marry her was invalid. This would be declared by the tribunal, leaving you free to marry for the first time in your life now.
----- But if that marriage was INvalid, then the woman was free to marry you. In that circumstance, the tribunal would have to determine whether or not your apparent marriage was valid.
---------- If it was, then the tribunal will declare that you are still married (despite the divorce). You would then become free to marry only when your "ex-wife" dies.
---------- But if it was not, then the tribunal will issue a Declaration of Nullity, stating that you have never validly been married and that you are now free to marry for the first time in your life.

Please know that you are allowed to become a Catholic without ever seeking the aid of the tribunal -- provided you choose to remain unmarried for the rest of your life (or until your "ex-wife" dies).

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 03, 2003.

> "What do you mean he can become a catholic but not a married one?"

If he is unable to get the annulment, which means he cannot marry again, but it would be nice if he became a Catholic.

-- Gordon (gvink@yahoo.com), March 05, 2003.

Jmj
Hello, Gordon and Max.

Gordon, at the end of my message to Greg, describing what may happen, etc., I told him: "Please know that you are allowed to become a Catholic without ever seeking the aid of the tribunal -- provided you choose to remain unmarried for the rest of your life (or until your 'ex-wife' dies)."
Then Max asked me: "What do you mean he can become a catholic but not a married one?"
Attempting to answer for me, you told Max: "If he is unable to get the annulment, which means he cannot marry again, but it would be nice if he became a Catholic."

However, that is not really what I was telling Greg. I was just adding that, as a divorced man, he may directly enter the Church right now and become an active member -- without even attempting to seek a Declaration of Nullity -- provided he does not attempt remarriage.

Max, you said that Greg could marry the Jewish woman in a Catholic ceremony. Well, it's possible, but very unlikely, because (1) he just divorced that woman, and (2) she may actually be validly married to her original husband (a Catholic whom she married before a rabbi).

God bless you.
John

-- J. F. Gecik (jfgecik@hotmail.com), March 06, 2003.