Annulment needed?

[Jon_S_1]

Hi guys,

Been a while since I posted. Hope all is well. I have a question regarding a hupothetical marriage situation.

Someone interested in entering the church through RCIA.

They were married.

They divorced.

They remarried (first husband still alive)

They divorced second marriage.

In the time since. Husband 1 has died.

Does this person need an annulment to enter the church?

Does this person need an annulment if they ever decided to get married in the future?

My thought is the “remarriage” was never considered valid, and the death of husband 1 leaves this person to live freely as a single person.

Thoughts?

 

[Jon_S_1]

Great point that first marriage may not have been valid and second may have.

For purpose of this discussion,assume all non catholic parties.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Does this person need an annulment to enter the church?

Does this person need an annulment if they ever decided to get married in the future?

The answer to the first question is no. Whether or not the second marriage is valid, it would not prevent entry into the Church of a person living chastely.

The answer to the second question is yes, because the second marriage might be valid.

My thought is the “remarriage” was never considered valid, and the death of husband 1 leaves this person to live freely as a single person.

I am not sure what you mean by “live freely as a single person?”

 

[Jon_S_1]

The answer to the first question is no. Whether or not the second marriage is valid, it would not prevent entry into the Church of a person living chastely.

The answer to the second question is yes, because the second marriage might be valid.

I am not sure what you mean by “live freely as a single person?”

Thanks,

I simply meant- free to date/marry.

 

[corsair]

From the information that has been given, I would say that the person is free to re-marry. But it is obvious that a thorough Confession is in order. The 1st Husband/second Husband is dead. The advise of a good traditional priest would answer all your questions. Not sure about a modern priest judging from the directions of most Dioceses’.

God Bless.

 

[rinnie]

Hi guys,

Been a while since I posted. Hope all is well. I have a question regarding a hupothetical marriage situation.

Someone interested in entering the church through RCIA.

They were married.

They divorced.

They remarried (first husband still alive)

They divorced second marriage.

In the time since. Husband 1 has died.

Does this person need an annulment to enter the church?

Does this person need an annulment if they ever decided to get married in the future?

My thought is the “remarriage” was never considered valid, and the death of husband 1 leaves this person to live freely as a single person.

Thoughts?

not sure what you are saying. but if 1st husband is dead, then 2nd husband would be valid.

 

[Corki]

Great point that first marriage may not have been valid and second may have.

For purpose of this discussion,assume all non catholic parties.

Even if the first marriage was invalid, the person was not free to contract the second marriage. So the second marriage is invalid. If the person was still with her second “husband” that could be convalidated upon the death of the first.

Validity and free to marry again are separate issues.

 

[Gorgias]

Wow. Lots of well-intentioned, inaccurate answers in this thread. This is the right answer, though:

The answer depends on a number of considerations, some of which haven’t even been raised yet on this thread. When thinking about a situation like this, it’s necessary to determine the relevant information about all persons involved – not only the (putative) spouses, but all of their spouses, and their spouses’ spouses, and so on, and so on, and so on.

Based on what’s been said so far, it’s impossible to give even a probable answer – and therefore, it’s a bad idea to give even a “here’s what it seems like” answer.

So, the only possible answer is to recommend that this lady talk to her RCIA leader, who will refer her to the pastor. That’s the only way to come to an answer.

(On the other hand, I really do ‘get it.’ The usual dynamic is that the person wants to know whether it’s even worth it to ask the question – that is, are they already in a situation in which they’ll be told “sorry… no dice”? (Or, they hope, they’re already in a situation that’s cut-and-dried and a definite ‘yes’, so there’s no reason to worry.) But, the honest truth is that there are many more questions to be asked before a reasonable answer can be given. The best course of action is to actually go to those who can ask the right questions, discern the situation, and provide a reasonable answer. You can’t get that on an internet forum. )

 

[Gorgias]

not sure what you are saying. but if 1st husband is dead, then 2nd husband would be valid.

Psst…

…what if 2nd husband wasn’t free to contract marriage at the time he attempted marriage to her?

In other words, you can’t make the assumption of validity that you’ve just attempted to make.