Divorced Non-Catholic wanting to marry a Catholic....

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Hi. I am a divorced non-catholic who is wanting to become catholic and marry a catholic man. My situation is my ex-husband had been married once before we were. The first marriage took place in a baptist church (that was the marriage of my ex-husband and his first wife). Then my ex-husband and I were married by a justice of the peace. I have a 5 year old daughter who I would like to raise in the catholic faith. The priest that I am working with has begun the process which he called ligamen. I begin RCIA in Sept. It has been about 4 months since we began the "ligamen". How long does this process normally take?? Am I calling this process by it's correct name?? I am really excited about starting the RCIA part of my journey, but I think I can't go forth, if my ligamen isn't taken care of by December. Anyways.....does anyone have any helpful responses, all would be appreciated. Thanks, Jennifer

-- Jennifer Lee (JLee6773@aol.com), July 27, 2003

Answers

Ligamen>Latin for bond)no real set time on how long this can take,But i think it's great you are going to start RCIA.I don't think the length of the ligamen should be an issue,i mean if your goal is to become Catholic and raise your children catholic,i don't think that should be a deterant,maybee postpone wedding,keep faith it will all work out for you.

Peace be with you

-- Andrew M Tillcock (drewmeister7@earthlink.net), July 27, 2003.


A ligamen case is one in which one of the spouses was in a presumed valid marriage prior to the current marriage which the couple seeks to have recognized by the Church. The Church must examine the original marriage, and make a determination of validity or nullity, before it can take steps to recognize the current marriage. If the original marriage is determined to have been valid, the current marriage cannot be recognized by the Church, since one of the parties was not free to enter into the current relationship. It is not uncommon for this to take a year or somewhat longer, though I have seen such an investigation completed in four months.

None of this should prevent you from participating in the RCIA program. However, if your marital situation is not resolved by the end of the RCIA, you would not be able to receive the sacraments and be formally received into the Church at that time. I teach RCIA, and we occasionally have persons who are in situations similar to yours. They complete the classes, then must await the final disposition of their marital situation before being baptized (if necessary), making their first Holy Communion, and being Confirmed. Typically, they do this with the subsequent year's RCIA class; but they do not have to retake the classes.

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), July 27, 2003.


I am going through a similar situation and have an additional question. I am a Catholic who was married in the Catholic Church to a Non- Catholic who had been married previously. His former marriage had been legally anulled, therefore, that may have been the reason we didn't have any delays or complications in getting married in the Catholic Church. We have been divorced for a year and I recently submitted my anullment papers to my pastor. It is in process. In the event, I seek to marry a Non-Catholic, who is divorced but had been married in the Catholic Church....What would need to take place for my marriage to this man to be in the Catholic Church assuming that my annullment gets approved? If an anullment of his previous marriage is necessary, would it have to be submitted by his ex-wife since she's the Catholic in that previous relationship? (I hope we wouldn't have to need her for anything!)What would he have to do? Thank you for your support

-- Maryangela Hoebich (runnergurl@bellsouth.net), March 22, 2004.

Maryangela,

You are correct that your intended will need to have his first marriage annulled. However, you will be glad to hear that he can submit the papers himself. (Non-Catholics have been able to petition for annulment directly since 1970.) It now works exactly the same as if he were Catholic. His ex-wife will be contacted by the tribunal and given the opportunity to participate, but the extent of her participation is up to her. The process will go on without her should she choose not to participate.

If you have any further questions, we would be glad to help out. Good luck!

-- Mark (aujus_1066@yahoo.com), March 22, 2004.


I just wanted to add that if you or he can find a priest who is willing to help in the process, that would be great; but he is always allowed to deal with the diocesan tribunal directly. He can file in the diocese that he resides in, or in the diocese that his ex-wife currently resides in. (I'm assuming both of these are in the U.S.; if not, there are additional rules.)

-- Mark (aujus_1066@yahoo.com), March 22, 2004.


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