Annulment Question

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Jon_S_1

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Hey guys,

I have a friend who is planning on getting married soon. She was married before to a baptized catholic, but they weren’t married in the church. They divorced over 20 years ago.

This should be a clear cut lack of form issue.

She’s run into the problem that they are requiring her ex husbands baptismal certificate. She has no contact with him and is wondering if there is some other way for her to get this information.

Surely the diocese would have a record by name to see if he was baptized or not right?

Any help appreciated.
 
I’m guessing she would need to know the name of the parish he was baptized at, if they’d even be willing to divulge this information.
 
So would the answer be she has to go through the full annulment process if she can’t find his baptismal record?

It seems odd to me the diocese doesn’t keep track of this stuff?
 
Perhaps they do, perhaps not. It is up to the parish to keep track of its own records of sacraments. I’m only answering as to the baptismal record.
 
She should be able to ask the priest or the tribunal how to get the baptism certificate. I’m surprised they didn’t tell her.
 
Jon_S said:
Hey guys,

I have a friend who is planning on getting married soon. She was married before to a baptized catholic, but they weren’t married in the church. They divorced over 20 years ago.

This should be a clear cut lack of form issue.

She’s run into the problem that they are requiring her ex husbands baptismal certificate. She has no contact with him and is wondering if there is some other way for her to get this information.

Surely the diocese would have a record by name to see if he was baptized or not right?

Any help appreciated.
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Are his parents still alive or does he have siblings? Perhaps she can ask someone where he was baptized at? Or where he received first communion or Confirmation (if different)?

Once she knows the parish, should be easy from there. She should be able to tell her pastor the parish and he can get the certificate if his parish won’t give it to her.
 
I’m in a similar situation with lack of form annulment in process. I have been advised that I can contact the parish where the ex was baptized to get a baptismal certificate for the tribunal. No need to contact the ex. The tricky part for your friend might be learning where that parish is. Is there a deacon or someone at your friend’s parish helping them and acting as their advocate? I know my deacon has been a wonderful guide for me through this process which is often difficult and awkward.

The best advice I can give for leads on information if the parish is unknown is search, search, search. The Internet is wonderful. I was able to locate a wedding announcement from a newspaper in the 60s online, and the church that performed the wedding has a copy of the baptismal certificate for the ex from that event, so that will tell me what parish to contact for a current record. It’s painful we have to play detective, but remind your friend that the end result will be worth the effort!
 
Jon_S said:
She’s run into the problem that they are requiring her ex husbands baptismal certificate.
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Yes of course. You cannot prove lack of form without proving Catholicity.
Jon_S said:
She has no contact with him and is wondering if there is some other way for her to get this information.
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You will need contact with someone-- him, his parents, other relatives who would know where he was baptized, or the parish in which he was baptized.
Jon_S said:
Surely the diocese would have a record by name to see if he was baptized or not right?
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Sacramental records are kept at the parish level, not the diocesan level. If she knows where they lived when he was born and his DOB, she can call local parishes and ask that they look in their records.
 
Jon_S said:
So would the answer be she has to go through the full annulment process if she can’t find his baptismal record?
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Yes.
Jon_S said:
It seems odd to me the diocese doesn’t keep track of this stuff?
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The parish “keeps track of this stuff”. The person is baptized in the parish, therefore that is where their records reside. The baptismal record and notations of confirmation, ordination, and marriage are at the parish of baptism.
 
If the information cannot be obtained by the petitioner, the Diocese where the petitioner lives can request it if the petitioner can find out which parish holds the records. An official letter can be sent from the Diocese requesting a certified copy of the form to be sent directly to them for the purpose of accomplishing a petitioners request for nullity and the parish will comply.
 
1ke said:
Sacramental records are kept at the parish level, not the diocesan level. If she knows where they lived when he was born and his DOB, she can call local parishes and ask that they look in their records.
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Would they release this information to her? When I was doing genealogy research I found that a number of churches would not release sacramental records for me unless I could prove that the person in question was deceased.
 
Jon_S said:
Hey guys,

I have a friend who is planning on getting married soon. She was married before to a baptized catholic, but they weren’t married in the church. They divorced over 20 years ago.

This should be a clear cut lack of form issue.

She’s run into the problem that they are requiring her ex husbands baptismal certificate. She has no contact with him and is wondering if there is some other way for her to get this information.

Surely the diocese would have a record by name to see if he was baptized or not right?

Any help appreciated.
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With a Lack of Form (which was my case) I didn’t need to put such information, because I was the only Catholic.

The parish priest should be able to advise what to place for this. For contact info, she could place “unknown” for phone number/address. If the Tribunal still wants a baptismal certificate, still… well… she may have to call the archdiocese for help.

The point is that while he may have been Catholic, there still was no Sacrament made because they didn’t marry in the Church. However, sometimes a Tribunal ruling can take time.
 
GreyWings said:
The point is that while he may have been Catholic, there still was no Sacrament made because they didn’t marry in the Church. However, sometimes a Tribunal ruling can take time.
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The sticking point is that if neither of them were baptized, it could still be a valid marriage and would need to go through the full annulment process. That one of them was baptized Catholic means that in marrying outside the Church, we know it was not valid due to lack of form. Hence, it’s important that they determine whether or not the man was baptized.
 
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