another annulment question

[gmarie21]

There is at least one priest in the archdiocese of Chicago that was married, the Tribunal found that his marriage was invalid, and then he became a priest. so, not all those who seek to find if their marriages are invalid are doing so to remarry.

 

[lizaanne]

…with the exception that she might have gone into her marriage to escape our controlling father. (her words, not mine)

This could very well be enough to determine that her marriage was not valid - but certainly only a Tribunal can make that statement. Going into marriage with the wrong or misdirected intentions can be a grounds for nullity.

Buy both of you THIS book and read it together. It will help you both understand the process more fully.

~Liza

 

[tngail]

I’m speaking for myself. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

 

[1ke]

Every time I come to “Family Life”, there is at least one annulment thread going. It seems that everyone who goes through a divorce wants the marriage annulled.

I sumit a case because would want to know one way or the other. It would determine many life choices going forward.

A lot of people even seem to EXPECT to be granted one.

Sadly, that is true.

1. What percent of applicants are actually granted an annulment?

I don’t think you’ve asked the right question. Remember, tribunals don’t “grant annulments” they merely declare what already exists-- that a particular marriage is invalid.

Proceedings are confidential and these types of statistics are not published. Also, different areas of the world have different procedures. In the US, for example, there are preliminary criteria that has to be met before your case can even go to the Tribunal.

1. Have you or anyone you know been denied an annulment?

Yes. There have been several posters here in the past who did not receive a decree of nullity.

 

[yessisan]

Many people aren’t informed and many of the marriages were valid to begin with. When the marriage is entered invalidly, then you can have the tribunal see if the person has enough proof of such invalidity. I know I have. Dh didn’t want to marry me in the Church, he promised to raise the kids Catholic, then changes his mind, and many other things.

For me, what makes me want to seek an annulment is what just happened to me. I know this happened after my marriage was declared valid, but that was because the tribunal only spoke to me. They never spoke to him to see what his intentions were. My case wasn’t thoroughly investigated even though the process took 4 months. He didn’t sign anything, he didn’t speak to anyone, in fact, he refused to speak to a deacon about our marriage. That should’ve been enough warning. But even after all this, they thought there was no danger of divorce and look, a month after the validity was granted, I got into this mess.

I know I can easily have my marriage named invalid. I am very wel informed in that part, but many aren’t. I want it to let go of things and be able to start out fresh and if I would ever find the right Catholic man to marry, that I would be able to do it the right way. But after what I’m going thru right now, why would I want to marry someone else?

The Church only declares them null if they see true reason for invalidity, the Church is very careful with that. Sadly, the priests or whomever is in charge at the tribunal doesn’t really take the time to seeing every case deep into its roots. If they had with mine, they would’ve known there was something wrong with my civil marriage. But they are human and they cannot see the things people won’t tell them, so… anyway… all these cases are private, and like 1ke said, statistics aren’t published.

 

[puzzleannie]

Every time I come to “Family Life”, there is at least one annulment thread going. It seems that everyone who goes through a divorce wants the marriage annulled. A lot of people even seem to EXPECT to be granted one. So here are my questions:

1. What percent of applicants are actually granted an annulment?
2. Have you or anyone you know been denied an annulment?

we also have an ongoing thread on liturgy and sacraments, where this topic belongs, debating the very statistics you are requesting. if you have strong nerves feel free to join in.

statistics vary by diocese. IME (in my experience) never having worked with the tribunal but in the beginning and ending of the process of getting candidates and parents started, and helping them complete sacramental initiation when they are finished, in over 20 yrs of parish work in 4 dioceses in 4 parts of the country:

at least half of applications for annulment are for marriages invalid due to defect of form or disparity of cult (“Catholics not married in the Church”) are resolved through a rather simple paperwork process and do not require a full investigation, and often there is no charge except perhaps some filing fees. In fact, the only fees are generally those required to get civil paperwork from the courts. This number is rising, as more an more Catholics fail to follow canon law procedures when marrying a non-Catholic, and may account for the statistics some of us deplore.

The rest require an investigation, with extensive interview completed by the one requesting the annulment. The spouse is given the opportunity to respond with an equally exhaustive interview, to tell “their side of the story” as it were. But they are not required to resond. The key factor in determining how long the investigation will take is how many witnesses are identified, whether contact info is up to date, and whether they cooperate and respond in a timely manner. The follow up required for this part of the process also accounts for most of the expense incurred by the diocese.

How fast the process proceeds depends on those factors, plus how many people are on the staff to conduct investigations, their case load, etc and the usual factors that affect a paperwork process in any legal investigation.

Expense varies by diocese, from a few hundre to a few thousand dollars, but almost never covers the entire cost of the process. Your fellow CAtholics in the diocese underwrite the balance of the expense through their donations.

In my experience about half to 2/3 of full blown annulment investigations are decided in favor of the petitioner. All decisions must also go through an appeals process that is automatic, and the other party may appeal, all the way to Rome if desired. That of course makes the process last longer.

I would guess 20-25 percent of applications are denied after investigation or after appeal.

 

[danimay]

we also have an ongoing thread on liturgy and sacraments, where this topic belongs, debating the very statistics you are requesting. if you have strong nerves feel free to join in.

.

Thanks for the answers. If I had known what a can of worms I was opening, I probably wouldn’t have asked. Nope, no nerves of steel here…more like nerves of play-doh… today, anyway. What curiousity I had on the subject has been satisfied. Thanks, again.

 

[Ailina]

I keep forgetting that annulments are only for those who wish to remarry in the Church…why can’t I get that through my head?:banghead:

So let’s say someone knew for sure they were done marrying…for ever–would he/she need an annulment? Forgive my ignorance of this!!

Sure, why not? I don’t think I will ever date again, let alone marry. However, I don’t want to rule it out completely either should the opportunity arise some day, once my kids are grown and gone.

I am going through the annulment process as part of my personal healing after I discovered my spouse had a secret life the last five years of our marriage that I knew absolutely nothing about, and that put my life in danger. I need to know if he truly understood what a Catholic marriage was.

 

[Huiou_Theou]

As a non-personal remark – the statistics of the annulment process, and divorce processes are skewed. If you look at a period of time in a given place where you have X marriages and Y breakups – the statistic DOESN’T tell you how many of the marriages were with partners from a breakup – who is re-breaking up.

For example: in a world of four marriages and three divorces, it is possible that one person got married and divorced three times –
which would make 75% of divorces due to 1 person.

In the real world, the numbers aren’t skewed by just 1 person, but statistically – they are skewed and always in favor of divorce statistics – because divorcee’s do re-marry. So, when you hear x% of all marriages end in divorce – realize that a significant portion of that number is made up of repeat offenders.

The same logic applies to annulments…

The world isn’t as bleak as Satan would like you to think – although it is pretty bad.

– Also, I do know of one annulment case where the woman was granted the annulment on the condition that she never remarry – for the obvious reason that she, herself, was the cause of the marriage being invalid. I suppose she could become a nun – since she is free to do so, but I doubt she could understand the vows there any more than the marriage vows. So, yes, some annulments are granted for a moot purpose…