Hi
I had been married at 17 years old and divoiced him six years later. I was a no catholic and he was catholic . We were marred in the church . I remarried in 1982 to a great man . We were married at city hall. . What I would like to know if I didn’t want to be remarried in the church can I still go through the RICA program and convert to become catholic with out an annulment .
Thank you
Your first marriage is presumed valid until proven otherwise (i.e. an annulment). To be civilly married to another man, if the husband from your first marriage is still alive, is a public contradiction of that.
In order to become a Catholic the marriage situation would need to be addressed. There would need to be annulment for the first marriage in order to recognize your current civil marriage as valid and clear any obstacle to you becoming a Catholic. If the marriage is declared null, then whether or not you need to have your current civil marriage validated in the Church depends on whether your current husband is a Catholic:
If he is a Catholic then he was required to be married in the Catholic Church and the marriage would need to be validated in the Church.
If he is not a Catholic then you were both free to marry at the time of your City Hall wedding and the marriage would be considered valid from the beginning.
If the husband from your first marriage is deceased then there is no marriage bond to prevent you from being married to your current civil husband.
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