annulment of civil marriage and Catholic wedding **meltoine**

e_jakiela

I am asking for meltoine because she seems to know a lot about Catholic laws... One of my bridesmaids is also planning her wedding. Her FI is super religious, and she loves Catholicism, so she is getting baptised before their wedding to be able to have a full mass with him. Recently she found out that there may be one problem she seems to have unresolved: A few years ago she married her ex bf in a civil ceremony. They were together for 3 years and he talked her into getting married in town hall after they had a huge fight over his cheating... he pretty much really tried to make up and show her committment and talked her into marrying him. she believed him and got married. Unfortunately, nothing changed after they got married, he kept cheating and being even more open about it, so she filed for an annullment and got it after 5 months from the wedding. Will she have any problems getting married in Catholic Church now? Thank you!

agapecarrie

I assume the annullment she got was a civil one, and not one through the church.All non-Catholic marriages (assuming both parties were non-Catholic) are assumed to be valid until proven otherwise. She will need to apply for a declaration of nullity (annullment) through the church. If the facts as you present them are all accurate, it seems likely it would be granted, but it still must be researched through the tribunal. If she wasnt baptized, it is assumed to be a valid natural marriage, and still must be investigated. It also may fall under pauline priveledge, but this is an unlikely and difficult route. She should immediately go to a priest and present all the information.

Calypso1977

her marriage was indeed valid and therefore needs to be annulled before she can marry again in the catholic church.

meltoine

I believe she shouldn't have a problem. Since the marriage was already annulled civilly (and was civil to begin with) it shouldn't interfere. She should ask the priest to be sure, but I think it'll be fine.

e_jakiela

Thank you meltoine and all others, this will definitely be a relief for her. Now, have you ever heard of the baptism of the adults? Is that some big ceremony? or something more confined? I want to prepare something special for her, even if very modest and intimate, I think this will be a great moment for her and I want to do something special... have you ever known anyone who was baptised as an adult? Any ideas?

meltoine

I have sponsored two people who were baptised as adults. Usually this is done at the Easter Vigil after they have completed RCIA classes. It is basically as big a deal as you make it. I've seen people whose whole families show up to the vigil in support of them and throw a huge party after, and I've seen people who don't make a big deal of it. Personally, I think it's nice to make a big deal of it. This is clearly something that is very important to her and will be a huge factor in her marriage and the rest of her life. I would celebrate it accordingly. HTH!

Leah&Christian09

She probably needs an annulment as to form.  It's a shortened form annulment process where the tribunal looks at the specifics and determines that it wasn't a valid marriage.

RipandMichelle+4

I don't normally post, but I am also dealing with this issue and thought I'd share my experience. My FI and I were both married previously.  He became Catholic this past Easter.  My ExH and I are both Catholic and married at the JOP.  I've heard horror stories about annulments so I was really scared that we would have a lot of trouble getting married in the church.  It is really important to both of us, so we started the process back in August.  My annulment (declaration of nullity) came back 5 weeks from the date it was received by the tribunal.  The church did not have to contact my ex at all.  My FI had to state that he was not baptized in any religion at the time of his first marriage and neither was his ex.  She is compliant and we expect to get his back this month.  He was able to use pauline privledge because he recently became catholic and is marrying another catholic.  He did have to give names and contact information of witnesses of his and his ex's that state they were not baptized in any church, ever.  The info that came back from our priest was that it was easier and they didn't have to go through the long annulment process because neither of them were ever baptized, even though they were married in a methodist church.  I hope this helps your friend.  Just tell her not to worry too much and to contact a priest to start the process right away.  We had to change our first date because we weren't sure that we'd get all of the paperwork back in time.  (As it turns out, we did - with tons of time to spare!)Michelle

Zooloo

I was baptized as a 26-year-old adult along with my two sons. It was very special. It was done at Easter Vigil after I had completed a year and a half of RCIA.