Annulements

[swimmingisluv]

Why does the catholic faith insist on anullments?

 

[Della]

What circumstances are you asking about? Are you asking why a divorced Catholic needs to apply for an annulment in order to get married to another person in the Catholic Church? We need a bit more to go on than your original question.

 

[swimmingisluv]

Yes, the first one

 

[swimmingisluv]

What circumstances are you asking about? Are you asking why a divorced Catholic needs to apply for an annulment in order to get married to another person in the Catholic Church? We need a bit more to go on than your original question.

Are you asking why a divorced Catholic needs to apply for an annulment in order to get married to another person in the Catholic Church?
That is what I am asking.

 

[Della]

Are you asking why a divorced Catholic needs to apply for an annulment in order to get married to another person in the Catholic Church?
That is what I am asking.

Yes, that’s what I was asking and, apparently what you are asking. Anyway, when a Catholic gets a legal divorce, s/he is still considered sacramentally married unless s/he got married outside the Church without a dispensation (there are other mitigating circumstances, but we won’t go into all that here). The Church presumes all married couples are married unless shown by investigation that no marriage took place. Annulments are not “Catholic divorces”. They are determinations that no sacramental marriage took place. So, a divorced Catholic needs to apply for an annulment to see if his/her marriage was a sacramental marriage or not, if s/he wants to marry another person. I hope that helps.

 

[1ke]

Why does the catholic faith insist on anullments?

The Catholic Church does not “insist on annulments”.

Perhaps you can formulate a specific question?

 

[His_helpmeet]

An annulment, or declaration of nullity, is only required if you are a divorced person and intend to remarry in the Catholic Church, or if you have already remarried and would like to be received into the Church or for your marriage to be validated in the Catholic Church.

The reason the Church insists that a declaration of nullity is necessary is due to the indissoluble nature of a sacramental marriage. A sacramental marriage is one in which both parties are baptized, regardless of whether they were baptized before or after the wedding. (If they were baptized after the wedding, the marriage becomes sacramental as soon as they are baptized, assuming the marriage was valid in the first place.) Jesus Himself said, in Scripture, “Let no man separate what God has joined”. Therefore, a sacramental marriage is not able to be dissolved.

If a marriage occurs between one baptized person and one non-baptized person, or if both parties are not baptized, the marriage is considered a “natural” marriage. The marriage may be dissolved by the Pope or the bishop if the following circumstances apply:

1. The marriage is between two non-baptized people and they divorce. One party wishes to be baptized and this party was not the primary cause of the marriage breakdown. The bishop may dissolve this marriage; this is known as the “Pauline Privilege”.
2. The marriage is between one baptized and one non-baptized person, and they divorce. The baptized party was not the primary cause of the marriage breakdown. The Pope may dissolve this marriage; this is known as the “Petrine Privilege” or the “Favor of the Faith”.

Keep in mind that all marriages are considered valid until proven otherwise. If neither of these circumstances apply, it is necessary for the Church Tribunal to examine the marriage to determine whether a real marriage ever actually existed. They may find one or more reasons for the marriage to be declared not valid. Problems such as consanguinity (being too closely related), marriage of a Catholic outside the Church without appropriate permission (this is called a “lack of canonical form”), or being too young to be married can be proven on paper and so the declaration of nullity is issued through “documentary procedure”; there is no formal nullity trial. Other problems, such as a desire not to be open to life (note that sterile couples can still marry, as long as the marital act is possible; the requirement is only that they be open to having children if God desires it), lack of understanding of the nature of marriage, lack of valid consent (for example, being “forced” to marry due to pregnancy or other reasons), or a desire not to be faithful (adultery does not count, unless it can be proven that there was no intention to be faithful in the first place) can make a marriage invalid, but they are harder to prove. These require a formal nullity trial.

A nullity trial requires that one spouse, the “petitioner”, submit documents and names of witnesses to the Tribunal. The other spouse, the “respondent”, will also be contacted. The petitioner is required to come in for an interview about the marriage. The respondent has the right to come in for an interview, or not; the case can still proceed if the respondent chooses not be involved. The witnesses will be contacted to come in and testify about the nature of the marriage. It’s important to note that all of this concerns the attitudes of the parties at the time of the wedding; what happened afterwards is not necessarily an issue unless it relates directly to attitudes and behaviours that were present at the wedding. The reason is because there needs to have been issues present at the time of the wedding that made the marriage not valid. A “defender of the bond” goes over the material and looks for any reason why the marriage should be declared valid. A decree is issued, and both parties have a certain amount of time to come in and look over the evidence. The priest-judge may also ask for additional information, such as documentation of medical issues, counselling records, police reports, etc. If there is nothing to add to the party’s (ies’) testimony, the judges will go over the material and make a decision based on a simple majority vote. If the judgment is “affirmative” (i.e. the marriage was not valid), the petitioner and respondent are sent a letter stating that this decision was made, and the case is automatically sent to an appeals tribunal. Once a decision has been reached there, the results are sent back to the local diocese, who sends a letter to the petitioner and the respondent about what the decision was. If both courts give an affirmative decision, both parties are free to marry. If either court gives a “negative” decision, no automatic appeal will be made, but the parties are free to appeal to the Roman Rota. It is necessary for two affirmative decisions to be made before a person is free to marry. The Tribunal is set up similar to a court, but most of the actual “court proceedings” are carried out through correspondence. The petitioner only has to go in to file the initial paperwork (usually just given to the parish priest, or else mailed to the Tribunal) and to complete the interview. There is a cost, but no one is ever turned away simply because of inability to pay. Usually, if money is an issue, a payment plan is worked out.

My husband went through this journey recently, His first marriage was declared null about a year ago. We had been civilly married about 14 months prior to the decision (on the advice of our pastor, who knew the circumstances of the first marriage) and were sacramentally married about 3 months after the final decision came in. The whole process took about 18 months, which is pretty typical.

 

[nodito]

Luke 16:18:

Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and the one who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

Matthew 5:31-32:

It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Mark 10: 2-12:

The Pharisees approached and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?” They replied, “Moses permitted him to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” But Jesus told them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother [and be joined to his wife],
and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
In the house the disciples again questioned him about this. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

The Catholic Church takes Jesus at his word. Marriage is permanent, and attempting remarriage while the first spouse is still alive is adultery. Therefore, if a divorced person wishes to marry a different person, the Church must examine his first marriage to determine whether it was valid or not. If an essential element was missing (for example, if the spouses didn’t intend it to be lifelong or to welcome children), the Church will declare it null (that is, that there was never a valid marriage to begin with; the person has never been married). In the absence of such a determination, the Church assumes the first marriage is valid and the divorced person is not permitted to marry someone else.

 

[Della]

Along with all the great answers given, I just wanted to add, in case this may be an unspoken sticking point, that the Church does not consider the children of an annulled couple illegitimate, since they lived together believing they were married. Many people think an annulment would mean their children weren’t legitimate, but that’s not the case.

 

[noclevername]

Why does the catholic faith insist on anullments?

In the Catholic church, marriage is a sacrament. There are seven sacraments in the Catholic church: Baptism, Eucharist, Reconsiliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Annoiniting the Sick. An annullment is what can break the marriage sacrament.

In the Protestant church, marriage is not a sacrament. In the most protestant churches, Baptism and Communion are the only sacraments.

 

[TheWarriorMonk]

Why does the catholic faith insist on anullments?

Well, the Catholic Church does not “insist on annulments.” An decree of nullity (annulment) is simply a determination by a Tribunal that a marriage is presumed invalid.

In order for a person to marry in Catholic form, one must be free to marry. That is obviously an issue for anyone who has been married and divorced, since their prior marriage is presumed valid by the Church (or at least their first marriage (initially) if married multiple times), and thus the person is not free to marry. A decree of nullity is therefore required for anyone wishing to remarry. It should be noted that the granted of this decree is not like a divorce; it is simply a determination based on the evidence.

Lastly, a decree of nullity is a requirement for presumed sacramental marriages (between validly baptized individuals). Besides annulments, marital dissolutions may be an option depending on circumstances for marriages involving situations where one or both spouses are not baptized.

 

[Della]

In the Catholic church, marriage is a sacrament. There are seven sacraments in the Catholic church: Baptism, Eucharist, Reconsiliation, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders and Annoiniting the Sick. An annullment is what can break the marriage sacrament.

In the Protestant church, marriage is not a sacrament. In the most protestant churches, Baptism and Communion are the only sacraments.

One quibble An annulment does not “break the marriage sacrament.” Rather, it is a degree that no sacramental marriage took place. It’s not a form of religious divorce of a sacramental marriage.

 

[bzkoss236]

Some simple definitions:

Divorce: Legal matter saying “You are no longer legally married” (i.e. no legal benefits from living with someone)
Annulment: Religious faith matter saying “You were never married in the first place”

So "re"marriage isn’t adultery because it isn’t a new marriage, it is the first marriage.