Annulments and Divorce in Eastern & Oriental Catholic Churches

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Does anybody here belong to the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, California?
Someone recently said he got an annulment of his marriage from their Tribunal and it only took 5 months to get the annulment.
Can they do annulments too? I was surprised when I heard about it.
 
Dear sister LaLucia
LaLucia said:
Does anybody here belong to the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, California?
Someone recently said he got an annulment of his marriage from their Tribunal and it only took 5 months to get the annulment.
Can they do annulments too? I was surprised when I heard about it.
Click to expand...
Please be aware that the Eastern Tradition is distinct from the Oriental Tradition. Annulments are not uncommon in the Oriental Tradition. It is most prevalent in the Western Tradition.

The Maronites are of the Oriental Tradition (particularly of the Syriac family), so it should not surprise you to hear of annulments among them. Annulments are more common in Traditions that have an explicit doctrine on the indissolubility of marriage. For that reason, the Oriental (and Western) Traditions are much less likely to grant divorce than the Eastern Traditions.

Here is a statement from a Syriac Orthodox (which is the same Tradition as the Maronites) source on the matter:
Whom God hath joined, man shall not render asunder". This is not a casual comment but a definite decree of Christ. Verses 2 to 8 which precede the above command in Chapter 10 of Mk. and verses 3 to 12 of Mt. 19 would speak sufficiently on the views of Christ, regarding the solemnity of matrimony. Briefly, the teaching of Jesus on marriage focuses on its unity and indissolubility. In Mt. 27, He forbids the desire for another’s wife. Surely, Jesus frowns upon extra-marital relationship, polygamy and polyandry. The Nazerene has no doubt at all that marriage is a divine dispensation from the very beginning of Creation itself. Christ was absolutely certain that once the nuptial ceremony is over, the husband and wife ‘are no longer two but one’ or ‘one flesh’ as the Greek version puts it. Marriage is really a spiritual union of blood with blood and flesh with flesh. Therefore, Jesus was categoric in His contention that permanence of marriage is what is willed by God. As a sequel, He overrules the Jewish practice which had approved divorce on certain grounds. To Christ, the union in marriage is indissolvable and irrevocable. In Mk 10: 11-12 and Lk 16:18 Jesus deprecates, if not denounces, divorce, in no unmitigating manner.
socdigest.org/articles/02nov06.html

Here is the official agreement between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church:
**This agreement between the Catholic Church and the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church on interchurch marriages has been prepared taking into account the following elements of the Common Declaration of Pope John Paul II and the Syrian Orthodox Patriarch Zakka I Iwas of Antioch, dated 23 June 1984:
  1. The common profession of faith between the Pope and the Patriarch on the mystery of the Incarnate Word;
  2. The common affirmation of their faith in the mystery of the Church and the sacraments;
  3. The possibility given by the declaration for a pastoral collaboration including the mutual admission of the faithful belonging to both churches to the reception of the sacraments of penance, Eucharist and anointing of the sick for a grave spiritual need.
    Having considered the above mentioned events and declaration, the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church agreed on the following considerations and norms.
    As our two churches believe in and confess the mystery of the Church and its sacramental reality, we consider it our duty to specify the areas of agreement in cases of marriages between the members of our two churches.
    Man and woman created in the image of God (Gen. 1: 26,27) are called to become sharers of the eternal divine communion. The sacrament of marriage is an image of this divine communion. Marital intimacy and self-effacing sharing are reflections of the deepest interpersonal sharing within the Trinitarian communion. Hence this intimate marital communion is divinely confirmed by Christ with the seal of unity and of indissolubility, and ordered toward the good of the spouses and the generation and education of the offspring.**
Though the Easterns are more likely than Orientals or Westerns to grant divorce, you should also know that annulments are not unheard of among the Easterns either.

Blessings,
Marduk
 
We are all unique, ironically, just like everyone else.

God Bless
 
LaLucia said:
Does anybody here belong to the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, California?
Someone recently said he got an annulment of his marriage from their Tribunal and it only took 5 months to get the annulment.
Can they do annulments too? I was surprised when I heard about it.
Click to expand...
It must have been a very clear-cut case for an “annulment” to come in that short a time. In such a case, it would have been no different in the Latin Church.
 
mardukm said:
Please be aware that the Eastern Tradition is distinct from the Oriental Tradition. Annulments are not uncommon in the Oriental Tradition. It is most prevalent in the Western Tradition.
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Yes, canonical divorce is less common among the Oriental OCs than among the EO, but canonical annulments can also happen (albeit much more rarely) in the EO. The West (RC) will never really grant a divorce (although canon lawyers commonly use the term when speaking of an “annulment”). The exact same thing is true in the Oriental CCs.
 
Chaldean_Rite said:
What is a canonical divorce?
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I hate being redundant to [post=6100220]myself[/post], but if you haven’t already, take a look at a [thread=409823]thread[/thread] from a few months back. It might help clarify.🙂
 
Thank you all for your kind words and information. I have learned new information.
I agree that my friend’s annulment was a clear cut case. That is what I told him because it only took 5 months for him to get his annulment. PEACE, LaLucia
 
So your saying that if a Roman Catholic was married to an Eastern Orthodox that the Eastern Orthodox could petition for a Divorce? What if his Roman wife had been married to another Roman would the Eastern Church rule on her first marriage to allow him the ability to Marry?

Thanks…
 
It would be nice if that was possible. I really don’t know. All I know is that you have to be a member of the Eastern Church in order to get an annulment through their Tribunal Office.

In my friend’s case he was not catholic and she belonged to the Eastern Church of the Marinites rites when they got their annulment.

This information is all new to me and it is really exciting to learn more about it.

Maybe some of the other posters here can answer your question. LaLucia
 
LaLucia said:
It would be nice if that was possible. I really don’t know. All I know is that you have to be a member of the Eastern Church in order to get an annulment through their Tribunal Office.

In my friend’s case he was not catholic and she belonged to the Eastern Church of the Marinites rites when they got their annulment.

This information is all new to me and it is really exciting to learn more about it.

Maybe some of the other posters here can answer your question. LaLucia
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Thank You. I am currently in RCIA, and really waiting for the Annulement, so if that does not happen I will never be able to be a practicing Roman Catholic.

God Bless You…
 
You will be able to attend our Catholic religious Mass. If you have stayed single you can be a full participating Catholic. But if you are already married again before the Catholic annulment then you will have to wait until your annulment gets approved.
I hope and pray that things work out for you.
 
Actually, one can be received EVEN IF in an invalid marriage; one must, however, live fraternally with the spouse to be formally received.

Even failing formal reception, one can still avail oneself of the grace of attending the sacrifice of the Divine Worship Service, even without participation in Communion.
 
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