Annulment Question - Catholic / Non-Baptised

[ecupug]

I am a Catholic. My ex-husband is not. I believe he told the Priest that he was baptised but I know that he wasn’t. I believe this because I have read that we should have required a dispensation before we could be married in the church. And I don’t remember anyone saying anything about a dispensation at the time. I believed my ex-husband to have Christian beliefs when we were married but as time went on, this became different and eventually he stated that he was an atheist. Part of the reason for the divorce but not the entire reason. I would like an annulment from the church. Mainly for my own piece of mind. I am not planning on remarrying at this point. Does my situation allow for an annulment? It seems that I would qualify for Favor of Faith if I was trying to be remarried but I am not. Please advise.
Thank you.

 

[1ke]

Yes, baptism matters.

Proving it is another matter. I suggest you start with your priest who prepared you for marriage. He will have your premarital investigation paperwork. Starting there will tell you what was recorded at the time and what paperwork your priest completed.

From there, you will have your options laid out based on what is in the paperwork.

 

[mdgspencer]

I got an annulment in the Catholic Church myself in 1986, and I found very useful to me a book on annulments that I found, I think, in a parish book rack. I didn’t have someone to marry the too; I just wanted to be free to marry if possible. I see that the amazon.com website lists books on annulments in the Catholic Church–you could put the words annulment and Catholic in the amazon.com search box.
I doubt it would help if he changed his beliefs. Whether it would help getting an annulment if he was not baptized is something to check on. There are some other grounds for getting an annulment in the Catholic Church you didn’t mention though.

 

[frizzgrig]

If you were Catholic at the time of the marriage and your husband was not and the celebrant did not get either a dispensation to marry an unbaptized person or permission for a mixed-marriage (marriage between a Catholic and another baptized non-Catholic) you were not married according to proper canonical form.

Giving false testimony (if you can prove it) to the person preparing you for your marriage could also be an issue.

As 1ke says, the church that performed the wedding preparation should have a record any permissions or dispensations. They are the first place to look for such information.

Moving forward with the annulment process now, while you are thinking about it with no pressing plans for marriage, is a good thing to do. Too many people wait until they are planning on marrying and have to postpone their wedding waiting for the annulment to come through (or cancel it entirely if the annulment is not granted).