Annulments in the Bible?

[jmcclane]

Hello,

        I am trying to share, with my father, the truth about the Catholic Church and one question he has is where annulments in the bible is. Can you direct me as to where I can find scripture verses that show the Catholic Churches position on Annulment?

Thanks

Joe

 

[Jim_Blackburn]

An annulment is simply a determination that what appeared to be a valid marriage was not one. Of course, a civil divorce is allowed in such a case.

Similarly, Jesus taught that divorce was allowed in the case of unchastity: “But I say to you that every one who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity…” (Mt 5:32). The RSV–CE Bible explains that unchastity points to an invalid marriage: “The Greek word used here appears to refer to marriages that were not legally marriages because they were either within the forbidden degrees of consanguinity (Lev 18:6-16) or contracted with a Gentile.”