Hello, I am a practicing Catholic. My boyfriend and I are planning to get married. He is divorced, non-Catholic, and his previous marriage did not take place in a church. I believe it was a civil ceremony. Does the Catholic church still necessitate an annulment for us to have a Catholic wedding, even though his previous marriage was technically not "sacramental" to begin with? Thanks for your help.

-- Mary (maryw0512@yahoo.com), March 11, 2003

Answers

Okay, I looked around on the list a bit more and found this URL: http://www.diogh.org/tribunal_annulment.pdf which has a lot of good information about the basics of annulments. It states that the church considers a civil marriage between non- Catholic Christians sacramental. My question is this: is a civil marriage between two non-baptized, non-Christians still considered sacramental? Thanks for your help.

-- Mary (maryw0512@yahoo.com), March 11, 2003.

Dear Mary,

The sacraments were given by Jesus to the Christian Church. Some branches of Christianity have rejected some or all of them, but in any case they are particular to Christianity. Marriages between non- Christians are recognized as valid by the Church, but not as sacramental.

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), March 11, 2003.

Thank you for your help, Paul. So, does a valid, but non-sacramental marriage still need to go through an annulment inquiry? Thank you.

-- Mary (maryw0512@yahoo.com), March 11, 2003.

Dear Mary,

Yes, an inquiry will most likely be required. This is a indication of the tremendous importance and sanctity with which the Church views marriage. An annulment is granted to persons who were never validly married, not to anyone else. That's what a decree of nullity is. The Church cannot "nullify" a marriage. That would be equivalent to divorce. The Church can only officially declare that which is already objectively true - but only after thoroughly investigating the relevant facts to determine what the objective truth is.

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), March 12, 2003.

Canon Law #1085 A person bound by the bond of a prior marriage, even if it was not consummated, invalidly attempts marriage. Even if the prior marrriage is invalid or dissolved for any reaosn, it is not on that account permitted to contract another before the nullity or dissolution of the prior marriage is established legitimately and certianly. Where you get married has no bearing on whether it was sacramental or not. The exchange of vows by the couple makes a marriage legal in church and out of church. The tribunal would decide whether there was an impediment to marriage and whether the marriage was valid or not. Entering into another marriage before nullity of a previous marriage, makes that next marriage invalid! Yes, the Catholic Church needs to go through the annulment process with you before you can validly enter into marriage with your boyfriend. You won't be married in the Church or at a Church until that process is done.

-- patrick farley (pfarley@saintmeinrad.edu), March 15, 2003.

I know that if the people are not bapized (even if only one isn't), the marriage is invalid. BUT, you still need an annulment. Period. No if's and's or but's. No way around it. Marriage is far too sacred to throw around.

As a side note, an annulment is NOT a Catholic "divorce". Please remember it is a statement that the marriage NEVER EXISTED. If a marriage DOES exist, only death can part. This is an ecclesiastical process that has nothing to do with the legal status of the prior marriage or the legitimacy and custody of the children.

Just for your info, here are the grounds for annulment:

Insufficient use of reason (Canon 1095, 10) You or your spouse did not know what was happening during the marriage ceremony because of insanity, mental illness, or a lack of consciousness.

Grave lack of discretionary judgment concerning essential matrimonial rights and duties (Canon 1095, 20) You or your spouse was affected by some serious circumstances or factors that made you unable to judge or evaluate either the decision to marry or the ability to create a true marital relationship.

Psychic-natured incapacity to assume marital obligations (Canon 1095, 30) You or your spouse, at the time of consent, was unable to fulfill the obligations of marriage because of a serious psychological disorder or other condition.

Ignorance about the nature of marriage (Canon 1096, sec. 1) You or your spouse did not know that marriage is a permanent relationship between a man and a woman ordered toward the procreation of offspring by means of some sexual cooperation.

Error of person (Canon 1097, sec. 1) You or your spouse intended to marry a specific individual who was not the individual with whom marriage was celebrated. (For example, mail order brides; otherwise, this rarely occurs in the United States.)

Error about a quality of a person (Canon 1097, sec. 2) You or your spouse intended to marry someone who either possessed or did not possess a certain quality, e.g., social status, marital status, education, religious conviction, freedom from disease, or arrest record. That quality must have been directly and principally intended.

Fraud (Canon 1098) Yu or your spouse was intentionally deceived about the presence or absence of a quality in the other. The reason for this deception was to obtain consent to marriage.

Total willful exclusion of marriage (Canon 1101, sec. 2) You or your spouse did not intend to contract marriage as the law of the Catholic Church understands marriage. Rather, the ceremony was observed solely as a means of obtaining something other than marriage itself, e.g., to obtain legal status in the country or to legitimize a child. Willful exclusion of children (Canon 1101, sec. 2) You or your spouse married intending, either explicitly or implicitly, to deny the other's right to sexual acts open to procreation.

Willful exclusion of marital fidelity (Canon 1101, 12) You or your spouse married intending, either explicitly or implicitly, not to remain faithful.

Willful exclusion of marital permanence (Canon 1101, sec. 2) You or your spouse married intending, either explicitly or implicitly, not to create a permanent relationship, retaining an option to divorce.

Future condition (Canon 1102, sec. 2) You or your spouse attached a future condition to your decision to marry, e.g., you will complete your education, your income will be at a certain level, you will remain in this area.

Past condition (Canon 1102, sec. 2) You or your spouse attached a past condition to your decision to marry and that condition did not exist; e.g., I will marry you provided that you have never been married before, I will marry you provided that you have graduated from college.

Present condition (Canon 1102, sec. 2) You or your spouse attached a present condition to your decision to marry and that condition did not exist, e.g., I will marry you provided you don't have any debt.

Force (Canon 1103) You or your spouse married because of an external physical or moral force that you could not resist.

Fear (1103) You or your spouse chose to marry because of fear that was grave and inescapable and was caused by an outside source.

Error regarding marital unity that determined the will (1099) You or your spouse married believing that marriage was not necessarily an exclusive relationship.

Error regarding marital indissolubility that determined the will (Canon 1099) You or your spouse married believing that civil law had the power to dissolve marriage and that remarriage was acceptable after civil divorce.

Error regarding marital sacramental dignity that determined the will (Canon 1099) You and your spouse married believing that marriage is not a religious or sacred relationship but merely a civil contract or arrangement.

Lack of new consent during convalidation (Canons 1157,1160) After your civil marriage, you and your spouse participated in a Catholic ceremony and you or your spouse believed that (1) you were already married, (2) the Catholic ceremony was merely a blessing, and (3) the consent given during. the Catholic ceremony had no real effect.

-- Prose (arpeggio69@hotmail.com), March 19, 2003.

I appreciate all the help I've got from the facts given me by people on this list. Thanks for your help. Response to Rose: Rose -- I know a marriage needs love. That said, there are plenty of marriages out there that exist without any love -- and there are plenty of unmarried couples who do love each other enormously. I appreciate the responses I've got to my query that have offered actual advice based on facts of the church laws. I do not appreciate the responses that reflect judgement. Spare me your judgemental words, please. You don't know anything about my situation. Thank you.

-- Mary (maryw0512@yahoo.com), March 22, 2003.

The answer is NO YOU DO NOT NEED A TRADITIONAL ANNULMENT. I just got married. My wife was also previously married in the civil court. It is considered invalid because it did not take place in the Church by a priest or deacon.

All we needed was for the arch-dioses in our city to recognize that it was a civil marriage and therefore invalid. It cost us $20 and we did it through the deacon at our church. Hope that helps.

-- Andrew (dontemailme@ihatejunkmail.com), May 06, 2003.