I want to bring up a small point with regard to annullments in the US vs Europe. I’m just going to use Italy as an exple since I have a personal connection there. Italy has a Catholic cultural identity. What I mean is that even if an Italian Catholic isn’t devout at all, they will likely marry in the Church because it’s a part of their culture. The US does not have a Catholic cultural identity on the whole. So a lapsed or nominal Catholic, even though they are required to marry in the Church (or with dispensation for another location) often will not. They will marry in a random nondenominational church, or in a park, or at the beach, etc. Those marriages are not valid and when they don’t work out, and one party decides to return to the Church, they can typically get a decree of nullity based on defect of form.
