Can a person who has been divorced and remarried after baptism still become Catholic?

[Holly3278]

Hey everyone. Can a person who is divorced and remarried still become Catholic even if they have already been baptized? If so, do they have to get annulments for their previous marriages?

 

[DavidFilmer]

Anybody can become Catholic at any time and under any circumstance. However, the Sacraments of Initiation may be delayed until it can be determined that a person is not incapable of receiving them.

A marriage is always presumed to be valid by the Catholic Church. This would include even marriages between non-Baptized (and even atheist) couples. So ALL prior marriages (regardless of circumstance) must be examined by a competent ecclesiastical authority (normally a Marriage Tribunal) and annulled if warranted.

 

[Holly3278]

Thank you for your reply David Filmer. I am just wondering though, do such people have to get annulments? If they do, what if they can’t afford the cost of it? Also, what about people who are divorced and remarried but who are not granted an annulment for their previous marriage. Are they required to divorce the person they are currently with?

 

[PaulfromIowa]

do such people have to get annulments? If they do, what if they can’t afford the cost of it? Also, what about people who are divorced and remarried but who are not granted an annulment for their previous marriage. Are they required to divorce the person they are currently with?

The terminology “get annulments,” as if from a vender, is faulty. No power on earth can dissolve a valid marriage, per Christ’s teaching.

Anyone can, and should, become a Catholic Christian. However, if we are cohabiting with a person not our spouse, we are in a state of sin, whether we know it or not. The cohabitation situation needs to be resolved for a Christian to be in a state of grace. If a person is divorced, and has reason to suspect that his first marriage was not valid, he can seek a decree of nullity. This would free him to marry again. Catholic marriage tribunals are not expensive venues.

If a person has multiple (civil law) spouses, is he required by the Church to get a civil divorce? No, because Christ and his Church do not recognize the validity of multiple spouses.

Is this teaching of Christ’s on marriage a hard teaching? Yes, if we, and our spouses (however many they may be) are of this world.

 

[DavidFilmer]

I am just wondering though, do such people have to get annulments?

The Catholic Church regards all marriages as valid by default. Even a marriage among non-Catholics or even non-Christians (even when performed in a civil act, such as by a Justice of the Peace). The institution of Matrimony is older than even the Jewish faith, and has always been recognized by all human civilizations, regardless of faith.

Marriage enjoys the favor of law. Consequently, in doubt, the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven. (Code of Canon Law, #1060).

If they do, what if they can’t afford the cost of it?

I know someone who has been involved in MANY such cases in my home-state of Georgia. In the Diocese of Savannah (which covers most of the geography of that large state), an uncontested annulment where the ceremony was not presided over by a Catholic minister and where one (or both) parties were not Catholic at the time is typically a pro-forma proceeding, and bears an administrative fee of a whole 50 dollars. Even this small fee may be dispensed upon appeal of financial circumstances. Nobody may be denied his rights to Catholic jurisprudence because of an inability to pay for his own defense.

Also, what about people who are divorced and remarried but who are not granted an annulment for their previous marriage. Are they required to divorce the person they are currently with?

No. The Catholic Church has no requirement (or even any concept) of divorce.

 

[Usige]

I am just wondering though, do such people have to get annulments?

The Church never requires a person to seek a declaration of nullity. That being said it is extremely rare that anyone living in an irregular marriage (i.e. marriage with doubts of validity) would be admitted to the sacraments. Essentially anyone that is remarried when their prior spouse still lives is objectivity committing adultery. Until it can be determined that they were never married to their former spouse it is not prudent to allow them to continue sacramental prep while they continue to commit the mortal sin of adultery.

Also, what about people who are divorced and remarried but who are not granted an annulment for their previous marriage. Are they required to divorce the person they are currently with?

So if I follow you right, you want to know what happens if someone divorced their first spouse and remarried but then later receives a negative ruling for a request of declaration of nullity (i.e. their first marriage is ruled to be valid). In this case their only choice is to practice continence (i.e. no sex) with their currnet civil spouse until their first spouse passes away. They could seek a civil divorce or separate to avoid scandal, but it is not strickly required. Really it’s a matter of no longer committing adultery. I believe we have at least one CAF member that is in this exact situation. That is the reason the Church strongly advise divorced person to make no plans for marriage before receiving a positive declaration.

 

[AnnArbor]

In the Diocese of Savannah (which covers most of the geography of that large state), an uncontested annulment where the ceremony was not presided over by a Catholic minister and where one (or both) parties were not Catholic at the time is typically a pro-forma proceeding, and bears an administrative fee of a whole 50 dollars. Even this small fee may be dispensed upon appeal of financial circumstances. Nobody may be denied his rights to Catholic jurisprudence because of an inability to pay for his own defense.

This seems unlikely if both parties were not Catholic. A marriage between two non-Catholics is presumed to be valid (regardless of who witnessed the marriage). If one party was Catholic and the Catholic form of marriage was not observed, then a lack of form case would be probable.

 

[PJM]

=Holly3278;10291787]Hey everyone. Can a person who is divorced and remarried still become Catholic even if they have already been baptized? If so, do they have to get annulments for their previous marriages?

First: YES one can still become Catholic

However they cannot receive All of the sacraments as is the same for divoriced and remarried Catholics.

An Annulment is a declaration that the previous marrige in EFFECT never existed. It is not approval of a divorice only.

Such a proclaimation would then permit one to become a full and active Catholic.

Because Jesus Founded Only Once Church and Only One set of Faith beliefs; all Salvation must and does “Flow through the CC”. So becomming a Catholic is a very Prudent idea:thumbsup:

God Bless you and thanks for asking.

See a Priest and discus all involved with Him.

pat/PJM