Annulment

[lewevanhoop]

My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding. My ex-wife is viomently anti-catholic and at the time I was non-practicing, Would my marriage require a tribunal or would it be considered invalid on the face of it?

 

[lindai37]

Good question and I don’t have that answer. However, after 14 hrs of being divorce I finally got my annulment after almost 2 yrs of working on it. (We paid over $1000 and NOW it is no charge as I understand). It was a good journey. I was able to deeply reflect…much more so than if I had not gone thru the process. I guess you can say it forces you to look much more deeply at the situation and in the end look back and see more clearly where YOU may have failed…or not. In my situation I see both. I never gave myself the credit before for how incredibly hard I tried to make it work…all the sadness and hardship I went thru. Then also, WHAT I COULD have done differently and how, if I marry again, I can be more vigilant on who I choose to marry, the personality and background of the person, and how I can bring my own new perspective and changes/understandings into the union. I definitely have a much higher respect and understanding for marriage. Therefore, whether it is or is not required for you to do the anullment, I recommend it, ESPECIALLY if you plan on remarrying. Best wishes and blessing. Glory to Jesus Christ!

 

[Joan_M]

My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding. My ex-wife is viomently anti-catholic and at the time I was non-practicing, Would my marriage require a tribunal or would it be considered invalid on the face of it?

At the time, you were non-practicing. But you were still bound by the requirements of the Church, so it would be considered invalid due to lack of form You still need to discuss with a priest and produce the necessary documents to show the lack of form.

 

[Dorothy]

My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding. My ex-wife is viomently anti-catholic and at the time I was non-practicing, Would my marriage require a tribunal or would it be considered invalid on the face of it?

Please see your priest and discuss this with him. I don’t know the prior marriage history of you or your ex-wife, but I do know that a marriage by a female that was ordained online just to perform the wedding is not correct for a Catholic.

Your priest will sort things out for you!

Peace!

 

[tee_eff_em]

My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding. My ex-wife is viomently anti-catholic and at the time I was non-practicing, Would my marriage require a tribunal or would it be considered invalid on the face of it?

Presuming you had previously been a practicing Catholic:
YES, your marriage is *invalid on the face of it *and YES, you require a tribunal or other Church judgment.

We may not, cannot, do not declare our own marriages invalid.*

Can. 1085 §1. A person bound by the bond of a prior marriage, even if it was not consummated, invalidly attempts marriage.

§2. Even if the prior marriage is invalid or dissolved for any reason,

it is not on that account permitted to contract another before the nullity or dissolution of the prior marriage is established legitimately and certainly

.

(* Nor, unless we are members of the Tribunal, do we legitimately declare each other’s marriage invalid.**)

(** Not even me.)

tee
Who Is Not A Canon Lawyer

 

[Vico]

My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding. My ex-wife is viomently anti-catholic and at the time I was non-practicing, Would my marriage require a tribunal or would it be considered invalid on the face of it?

If you proceed to a Catholic marriage, then the documentation of the marriage certificate and your baptism record, will provide proof that it was never a marriage. (Also there is the divorce decree.)

 

[Used2beSherryG]

Contact your parish priest (or a local priest in your area if you are not registered in a parish) and you will be directed in your efforts. Definitely, you will have to go through the process of submission of proper forms to the Marriage Tribunal for investigation & consideration. No one can give you a clear answer as each case is considered individually at the Diocesan level by a team who gather all information that is Jermaine to your specific case and submit for consideration. You may be asked to provide additional information if needed and the process is both cathartic for your own healing from the tragedy of a failed union and brings you back into full communion with Christ’s church. Your marriage may be declared null or invalid. Start today and put your life back in order. God bless you in your efforts.

 

[dans0622]

Hello Deacon,

Why do you say that? The items listed by “Vico” are generally all that’s needed to attest to a person’s freedom to marry in the Church, after a merely civil union (which is what the OP seems to have described).

Maybe you are thinking of the fact that this (in some places) is a matter handled at the tribunal?

Dan

 

[FrDavid96]

My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding. My ex-wife is viomently anti-catholic and at the time I was non-practicing, Would my marriage require a tribunal or would it be considered invalid on the face of it?

Whether or not that marriage was a valid attempt is something to be determined by competent authority. That excludes anyone on the internet who might attempt to make that determination.

Generally speaking, the situation you describe would not be a valid marriage. There are possible circumstances that might make it a valid marriage, which might or might not apply to you. For example, you haven’t told us whether or not you had any dispensation. That would certainly change things.

That’s why what you need to do is sit down with your own pastor and discuss this with him.

Most likely, you will need an administrative declaration of nullity. This is not a formal annulment petition, and the process is (again, usually) rather brief.

For most diocese, this is a simple one or two page form.

Again, talk with your own pastor about this. He can walk you through the process.

 

[FrDavid96]

If you proceed to a Catholic marriage, then the documentation of the marriage certificate and your baptism record, will provide proof that it was never a marriage. (Also there is the divorce decree.)

I’m curious…

Since you’ve already decided that the OP’s situation was “never a marriage,” how do you know that the OP did not have a dispensation from canonical form?

How do you know that?

 

[FrDavid96]

Hello Deacon,

Why do you say that? The items listed by “Vico” are generally all that’s needed to attest to a person’s freedom to marry in the Church, after a merely civil union (which is what the OP seems to have described).

Maybe you are thinking of the fact that this (in some places) is a matter handled at the tribunal?

Dan

That’s exactly the point. “Seems to have described.”

No one here knows the exact circumstances.

Also, there is no way of knowing (since the OP hasn’t shared that information) whether the ceremony was “a merely civil union” as you describe, or whether it was a religious ceremony.

No one here knows if there was a dispensation. Is it likely that there was no dispensation? If I were forced to choose one or the other, it seems as if there was none. But I don’t know that, and neither does anyone else, except the OP who hasn’t shared that information.

People just cannot go around issuing Internet Declarations of Nullity based on what other posters seem to have described.

Based only on the little information that the OP shared, it is possible that once certain questions are asked, the answers might reveal that the marriage was indeed valid.

 

[Vico]

I’m curious…

Since you’ve already decided that the OP’s situation was “never a marriage,” how do you know that the OP did not have a dispensation from canonical form?

How do you know that?

The poster told me with “My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding.” without any reference to the Catholic Church approval, the poster said “I was non-practicing”.

 

[FrDavid96]

The poster told me with “My ex-wife and I were married by a female friend who was ordained online just to perform the wedding.” without any reference to the Catholic Church approval, the poster said “I was non-practicing”.

None of that excludes the possibility that the OP had a dispensation, nor does it prove that there were no other circumstances that would indicate a valid marriage.

When dealing with marriage issues, it is never safe to assume that something happened or did not happen. When considering marriage issues, the Church deals in established facts, not assumptions.

Again, I’ll caution that no one has any business issuing Internet Declarations of Nullity. Only competent authority can declare that a ceremony was an invalid attempt at marriage. The internet is not the place for that.

Some points to consider:

The OP never said that he did not have a dispensation. That’s an assumption, not a fact.

It might be that the whole point of the question was based on the “internet ordination” of the officiant. In other words, based strictly on the information that was given, the OP might have had a dispensation from form, but is wondering whether or not the status of the minister (so called) affects the marriage; as if it would make a difference if the minister was ordained (again, so called) in a more liturgical community that has a formal and personal ceremony, or was simply appointed from a distance.

Internet forums are simply not the place to declare that anyone’s marriage was an invalid attempt at marriage. Only competent authority can do that.

 

[G_S]

Perhaps the poster was thinking of “Tribunal” as a full, juridical annulment process. That would not be necessary. However, the case still needs to be submitted through a priest or deacon as a defect of form case. The question of anti-Catholicism, a non-practicing Catholic spouse, etc are basically irrelevant to a declaration of nullity since there was a defect of form.

Isn’t it sad, 'tho, that so many couples are opting for the on-line pseudo-ordination of friends and associates as officiants. It really does show a casual approach to marriage.

 

[FrDavid96]

Perhaps the poster was thinking of “Tribunal” as a full, juridical annulment process. That would not be necessary. However, the case still needs to be submitted through a priest or deacon as a defect of form case. The question of anti-Catholicism, a non-practicing Catholic spouse, etc are basically irrelevant to a declaration of nullity since there was a defect of form.

Isn’t it sad, 'tho, that so many couples are opting for the on-line pseudo-ordination of friends and associates as officiants. It really does show a casual approach to marriage.

Again, no one can say that a formal process won’t be necessary.

No one here has all the facts.

Does it appear to be a defect of form situation? Sure it does. But no one actually knows that to be a fact. That’s why the OP needs to speak to his pastor and go through the proper process to establish the facts of the matter and proceed from there.

Again, I’ll remind everyone reading this that the OP has never told us whether or not he had a dispensation. Posters are merely assuming that he did not.

 

[DCNBILL]

Perhaps the poster was thinking of “Tribunal” as a full, juridical annulment process. That would not be necessary. However, the case still needs to be submitted through a priest or deacon as a defect of form case. The question of anti-Catholicism, a non-practicing Catholic spouse, etc are basically irrelevant to a declaration of nullity since there was a defect of form.

Isn’t it sad, 'tho, that so many couples are opting for the on-line pseudo-ordination of friends and associates as officiants. It really does show a casual approach to marriage.

Yes it is sad, even in Catholic weddings the focus seems to be more on the wedding ceremony itself being “perfect” rather than the marriage being sacramental.

 

[Vico]

Again, no one can say that a formal process won’t be necessary.

No one here has all the facts.

Does it appear to be a defect of form situation? Sure it does. But no one actually knows that to be a fact. That’s why the OP needs to speak to his pastor and go through the proper process to establish the facts of the matter and proceed from there.

Again, I’ll remind everyone reading this that the OP has never told us whether or not he had a dispensation. Posters are merely assuming that he did not.

That is true that non one here has all the facts.

A non-practicing Catholic does not request a dispensation because non-practicing means that there is no attempt to comply with the Church laws on matrimony, however it is possible that there was a declaration of defection accepted by the Church before that time, or that the usual canonical form was not required for another reason (CIC Can. 1116), and that would make in unnecessary to get a dispensation from the Church in the first place.

 

[lewevanhoop]

I didn’t have a dispensation since i wasn’t practicing i didn’t think it would matter.