Catholic Weddings

Catholic Question! Help!!

My fiance and I are both Catholic, and it's very important to me to receive this sacrament!! However, this is his second marriage & the first was also a Catholic Mass. Can anyone fill me in on what our options are or any advise!!! Thank you!!!!

Re: Catholic Question! Help!!

  • Talk to a priest. The Catholic Church still considers him married, so he will need to seek an annulment, (which is NOT guaranteed) before he can get married in a Catholic Church. While hindsight is 20/20, unfortunately the fact that he is still considered  married to someone else might have been something to consider before you fell in love with him. Don't put any money down on a reception hall, sometimes annulments can take a year or two, if they even go through. 
    An annulment is not a Catholic divorce - it is a way proving that his original marriage was simply not valid, for some reason such as he was forced into it, he did not understand what a marriage required or was emotionally unable to make the commitments required (or the woman he married wasn't able to,) etc.
    Anniversary
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_catholic-question-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:5f598127-0098-4323-9645-8fc297697663Post:104c6e2c-470f-4fdf-8707-3fcdc77a519d">Re: Catholic Question! Help!!</a>:
    [QUOTE]Talk to a priest. The Catholic Church still considers him married, so he will need to seek an annulment, (which is NOT guaranteed) before he can get married in a Catholic Church. While hindsight is 20/20, unfortunately the fact that he is still considered  married to someone else might have been something to consider before you fell in love with him. Don't put any money down on a reception hall, sometimes annulments can take a year or two, if they even go through.  An annulment is not a Catholic divorce - it is a way proving that his original marriage was simply not valid, for some reason such as he was forced into it, he did not understand what a marriage required or was emotionally unable to make the commitments required (or the woman he married wasn't able to,) etc.
    Posted by lalaith50[/QUOTE]

    Thank you!! That is very helpful!!!
  • ditto lalaith.
    start the process now.  it can take a very long time and you will not be allowed to even schedule your wedding date until he is free to marry.
  • The process is worthwhile!  It will require a lot of work on your fiance's part - a lot of writing about his life growing up, his values, his first engagement - His life up until the beginning of the marriage... and (to many people's surprise) not so much about what happened during the marriage.  It also requires witnesses who knew him, and preferably the ex-wife, before the marriage, to write/testify on his behalf.  I just found out last week my annulment was granted. ALL paperwork on my end was submitted within 4 weeks and the annulment process took 14 months in total.
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