1 Tim 1:9

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My Catholic mother and father married in 1962. My mother was six months pregnant with me in early 1965 when my father, for whom I am a dead ringer, suddenly denied me as his and left for another woman. He sued for divorce, and won when she chose not to fight him. She went on Welfare and started raising my older brother and me. When we were 5 and 4 years old, respectively, she met a kind and intelligent man who cared about her and her children far more than my father ever had. He proposed marriage. She accepted, and was duly condemned by the Church as unworthy of Communion. It broke her heart, but they and her (now four) children have been mostly happy in the 45 years since.

If “condemned” isn’t the correct term, please accept my apologies.
 
My Catholic mother and father married in 1962. My mother was six months pregnant with me in early 1965 when my father, for whom I am a dead ringer, suddenly denied me as his and left for another woman. He sued for divorce, and won when she chose not to fight him. She went on Welfare and started raising my older brother and me.
It is a terrible thing when a husband and father inflict such an ordeal on their family.
He proposed marriage. She accepted,
Your mother was not free to marry. Your mother could have petitioned for a decree of nullity, but seems to have chosen not to.
and was duly condemned by the Church as unworthy of Communion. It broke her heart, but they and her (now four) children have been mostly happy in the 45 years since.
And your mother can still petition for a decree of nullity, or if your father is no longer living she can be married in the Church.
If “condemned” isn’t the correct term, please accept my apologies.
The Church doesn’t condemn people. But neither can it change the Truth. Your mother put herself in the position of being outside the sacramental life of the Church.

But, until her last breath she has the ability to change that. The Church will always welcome her back to the sacraments. She should talk to her local pastor for advice on her situation and returning to the sacramental life.
 
My Catholic mother and father married in 1962. My mother was six months pregnant with me in early 1965 when my father, for whom I am a dead ringer, suddenly denied me as his and left for another woman. He sued for divorce, and won when she chose not to fight him. She went on Welfare and started raising my older brother and me. When we were 5 and 4 years old, respectively, she met a kind and intelligent man who cared about her and her children far more than my father ever had. He proposed marriage. She accepted, and was duly condemned by the Church as unworthy of Communion. It broke her heart, but they and her (now four) children have been mostly happy in the 45 years since.

If “condemned” isn’t the correct term, please accept my apologies.
Be at peace!

If by “condemned” you are asking about your mother being damned to hell, the Church has no authority to condemn. Only God can condemn; and fortunately He is quicker to show mercy than vengeance. And, let no person here tell you your mother has committed a mortal sin, because anyone who makes such a claim, either implicitly or explicitly, with just the story you gave is acting out of ignorance, and without charity.

PEACE AND ALL GOOD!
 
Given the title you used for the thread, I assume that what you are saying is that your mother is blameless, and so the law should not apply to her. I would caution against this approach. St. Paul says that the law was made for sinners, but if you go a verse or two further, you will see in the list of things that the law is meant to combat: “whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.”

That is, the law serves truth. Your mother was clearly wronged. But entering a second marriage while still married is simply impossible regardless of this, and to attempt to do so is “contrary to the sound doctrine” that St. Paul references. Don’t misunderstand - I am not attempting to condemn your mother. There is no way whatsoever that I could begin to have any idea what sort of culpability for attempting a second marriage might exist. Nevertheless, attempting a second marriage while married is objectively wrong, and the Church must act in subordination to this fact (though, as 1ke mentioned, there are ways to regularize the situation).

No one condemns your mother, but the Church has a duty to teach the truth, even when it’s hard, and even when the unjust actions of some unfairly burden others. So while we can all see that your mother was wronged, we can also see that some things just aren’t possible, and that the Church is simply unable to act as though they are - no matter how much we sympathize with your mother.

But again, I want to reiterate what 1ke said - there is a way forward. The Church recognizes that your father wronged your mother, and teaches that your mother’s response, while likely motivated by the best intentions and certainly a sympathetic case, was also wrong - but that there is a way to correct the situation.
 
My Catholic mother and father married in 1962. My mother was six months pregnant with me in early 1965 when my father, for whom I am a dead ringer, suddenly denied me as his and left for another woman. He sued for divorce, and won when she chose not to fight him. She went on Welfare and started raising my older brother and me. When we were 5 and 4 years old, respectively, she met a kind and intelligent man who cared about her and her children far more than my father ever had. He proposed marriage. She accepted, and was duly condemned by the Church as unworthy of Communion. It broke her heart, but they and her (now four) children have been mostly happy in the 45 years since.

If “condemned” isn’t the correct term, please accept my apologies.
It means that she is still married from 1962, and that is why she would not be able to receive Communion.

The verse before that is 1 Tim 1:8 “8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully:”
 
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