I am a Catholic searching for help with an annulment question. I was originally married in a Catholic church to another Catholic and have since divorced and had my marriage annuled.

My fiancee is a baptised Methodist and married a non-practicing (but baptised) Catholic in the Methodist church. She is divorced.

I understand that that Catholic church presumes marriage between two Christians (ie, my fiancee and her ex) to be valid until proven otherwise. In such cases, I understand that non-Catholics such as my fiancee need to have their marriages annuled before marrying Catholics ie, me) in the Catholic church.

My question is whether, since her previous marriage was to a Catholic in a non-Catholic church, his being Catholic required Catholic canonical form and thus invalidated that marriage. I know that he did not receive dispensation to have his marriage in the Methodist church.

The reason this is important is that I understand if her marriage was rendered invalid by her ex-spouse being a Catholic married in a non-Catholic church, the annulment process for her now is very much abbreviated. Is this true? How abbreviated will it be? Her objection at this point is having to subject her ex and her family to questionnaires. It would help matters much, not just to save time, to have this process expedited and such input not required.

Thanks for your help!

Ken

-- Ken Pataky (krpataky@northstate.net), January 10, 2005

Answers

The lack of canonical form should expedite the annulment process. In my diocese such cases usually take one to two months, provided full documentation is submitted with the initial petition. But it can vary from one diocese to another, and also depends on the current case load of the tribunal.

-- Paul M. (PaulCyp@cox.net), February 08, 2005.