Father, I would appreciate some clarity, please. I keep getting conflicting responses from people regarding whether or not I am free to marry in the Church.
I am divorced from a non-Catholic, went to my parish priest to find out what I needed to do to start the annulment process and was advised by him that because I was never married in the Catholic Church, it was not necessary for me to seek annulment because there was nothing to annul.
Now, I have many of my friends telling me that my parish priest was wrong, that I must still seek annulment anyway because I was married – period. Please help me – I’m so confused – and I don’t want to tell people I am free to marry in the Church if I am not.
Thank you Father, I await your response.
Hi and thanks for your question!
What you’re probably encountering from your friends/parish priest is bits and pieces of correct information.
As a Catholic, we believe that the Sacrament of Matrimony takes place in the Church, with a Priest or Deacon officiating – unless special permission was requested and granted. For example: If you were marrying a Jewish person in a temple. In that instance, you could receive permission from the Catholic Church to do so simply by meeting with your parish priest (and going through the marriage preparation the Church requires) and that marriage would be considered what is called “valid and licit”
If you did not get that permission, (which from the sound of your message seems to be the case) you still have to through a process which would declare that their is not a marital bond and that you are free to marry. So it’s a form of an annulment, yet is a much more abbreviated process than what most people’s experiences in this area are.
Basically the Church will be declaring that your first marriage was “illicit” (improper). This would require getting your baptismal certificate, usually some documents stating where, when and who performed the first wedding and a copy of the divorce decree.
In these cases, the officials of the diocese who deal with these matters (the “Tribunal”) usually issue what is an annulment due to “lack of canonical form” (basically stating, you were married “out of the Church”)
So this is a lengthy way of explaining that you would need an annulment – but this form of annulment usually is something that is resolved relatively quickly, and doesn’t require as thorough an investigation as those marriages which were true sacramental unions.
I hope that help clear up the confusion!
God Bless,
Fr Jim
