Becoming a full catholic

Andypandyboy

farfromhome wrote: »

Andypandyboy - thank you for the link, very interesting website, but this is what it says:

"The question of whether or not you can 'remarry' in a Catholic church is dependent on whether or not your first marriage was valid, not on its sacramentality as such."
and
"If you were married in a protestant church without permission of the local Catholic bishop, and according to the requirements of the Catholic Church, the marriage would not have been valid, and
neither would a marriage in a registry office have been valid. In these cases you would be free to marry in a Catholic church, as you would not have been, nor are, married."

Yes, I could have "re-married" my husband in an RC church which would have made the marriage valid but this did not happen, and therefore in the eyes of the RC church I have never been married. So a divorce would not have made any difference as the marriage was invalid as we did not meet any of the above requirements.

You did, as you were "legally" married not sacrementally married. This is the important bit:

If your first marriage was valid, and marriage is said to ‘have the favour of law’ that is, it is assumed valid until it is legally proved otherwise, then you are not free to marry again.

In your case it was a moot point as you were with the same man. That would not apply to someone who wanted to marry another man.

coolcait

Actually, I think that the Catholic marriage centre may have it wrong, or need to word their answer a bit more clearly.

If the previous marriage was only a civil ceremony then the Catholic church wouldn't see it as canonically valid. It would therefore be possible to marry in the Catholic church as - in the eyes of the church - it would be the first marriage

If the previous marriage was in another Christian church, then it would be canonically valid, and it wouldn't be possible to marry again in the Catholic church.

In the short space of time available to me, I can't find any official church links, but I'll look later.

Andypandyboy

This may be clearer.

https://churchannulment.com/divorce_remarriage_annul.html

Does every divorced person need to ask the Church about their marriage before they can remarry in the Church?

Yes. Since divorce only impacts your legal status in civil law, it has no impact upon your status in church law. Since a divorced person is still considered married in church law, they are not free for remarriage in the Church. Simply put, a person can’t have two spouses at the same time. This is also true in the State, which is why a person needs a divorce of their first civil marriage before they can enter a second civil marriage.
Three circumstances free any divorced person of their marriage in the Church:
1. the death of their spouse,
2. an annulment of their marriage, or
3. the dissolution of their marriage by Church authority.
Under these circumstances, a person’s church law status changes from married to "single." So they are free to marry in the Church.
I’m a divorced non-Catholic. Why do I need a Catholic annulment?

You only need one if you want to remarry a Catholic in the Catholic Church, or possibly, if you want to become a Catholic. That’s because the Catholic Church recognizes Protestant, interfaith and most civil marriages as valid in Catholic church law. Once the Catholic Church recognizes a marriage contract as valid, then any question of invalidity needs to be addressed by the Church.

mumps

Andypandyboy wrote: »

Really, I have never known that happen. Which area was that?

I think things like birth control are a bit different as they are personal issues, and I know quite a few Priests who would not be against it. However, to perform a regulated ceremony and solemnise a marriage against the tenets of the church is highly irregular and I am very surprised he kept his job.

Probably not fair to say where he is. I think I know a few unconventional priests. I know two who married, one was a father before his dispensation came through so that was pretty bad but the other one did get it all sorted out before any babies came along. Actually on second thought I know three priests who married, one was a Jesuit I think.

I think the priest who decided to marry the divorced couple, well only one was divorced, felt it was a matter of conscience and he felt it was the right thing to do. I don't know if anyone higher up ever found out.

anotheruser

tea_lover wrote: »

Because confirmation is an important decision and a holy sacrament.

So is marriage but people seem to think it's a status that can be changed at any point.

While I understand some things change, there is no doubt there's a huge chunk of people who get married knowing they can divorce at a later date if they can't be bothered to work things out/fancy a change.