Can I date a divorced woman?

[PastGrandKnight]

Let’s keep the topic on the Catholicity of dating a divorced woman and not on the legality of it which is of no consequence to us really and not the purpose of this thread.

Thanks.

“No consequence”? Think about that for just a moment. Does any religion have the power to order their members as to whom they may or may not have as friends? Since the answer it obviously “no”, then the fact is that dating a divorced person is not wrong, either morally or legally.
And why is the question only about dating a divorced woman? Do the rules apply differently to a woman as they apply to a man? What difference does the gender have to do with this issue?
For the record, I’m divorced, but I got an annulment: after over 20 years of marriage and 2 children! The Church ruled that my marriage was never valid, so the annulment was approved. Did I date prior to the annulment being approved? Not seriously, although I went out with a woman a few times. We both liked Chinese food, and we were friends before my ex walked out of our marriage. So we went for Chinese food. I did not consider that to be a breach of any laws whatsoever, as marriage to her was not going to be an issue.

 

[Tridentine_MT]

I know of a similar situation:

A woman (Eastern Orthodox) was married (civil wedding not religious) to a Roman Catholic.

They are in the process of obtaining a divorce.

Would it be a sin to date such a woman? And can she and her new partner marry according to what is stipulated by the Catholic Church?

 

[nunsense]

Let’s keep the topic on the Catholicity of dating a divorced woman and not on the legality of it which is of no consequence to us really and not the purpose of this thread.

Thanks.

It’s simple.In the law of the Church the woman is still validly married unless and until she has a piece of paper from the Church to say otherwise.

As a non-Catholic herself, if she married and divorced a non-Catholic, this is a natural marriage and it is still valid and she must obtain an annulment from her first marriage.

This page might help answer some questions
dmdiocese.org/divorced-and-catholic-faqs.cfm

If she was married to a Catholic without a dispensation then their marriage was not valid and what she needs is a piece of paper declaring that. It is a statement that says the marriage was not valid. This can be obtained from a Bishop and takes a lot less time than an annulment does (months or less, as opposed to years).

If you want to date her with the intention of someday perhaps marrying her within the Church, then you should let her know that your religion is important to you and these steps would be necessary before you could get married. If she married a non-Catholic before, then you have a long road ahead of you before you two will be able to get married.

If your faith is important to you, then pre-marital sex is also a sin. And to marry without Church permission (annulment or decree of non-valid marriage) - through a civil marriage or anything else - would be adultery - yes.

But good luck. If you already love her, then pray to God and ask for help about this.

 

[schaubj57]

I am dealing with this issue myself. I have a friend who is now a two time divorced woman. First husband was abusive to her (mentally, physically and emotionally) and her second husband was rushed into marriage by his mom and it fell apart this year. She and I have the best of times together as friends. I’ve been literally the only one she has confided in about her life. I have held her while she has cried, laughed with her and helped her out these past 9 months after she separated from her husband. She has been divorced since 12/17/14. During this time she has had a relationship with a guy but it’s just like a return to her first marriage in that he abuses her and has driven her self esteem down. I remained a friend and never looked at her in a dating sense until the last week or so. I said one night that after having our friendship grow exponentially the last nine months we really seem to be good for each other (uplifting, supportive and there for each other) and I jokingly asked her if she ever split from her current situation that we should try. She said that while she has never looked at me that way, she does think I am an attractive man and that I would be a good man for a woman to be with. She also stated that she didn’t want to jeopardize her friendship with me by giving it a shot but (in her words) you just never know what could and will happen and then winked at me. She moved a week ago and told me she balled her eyes out when she was no longer going to be living near me and that I would be the only thing she will miss about the town we both lived in.

I don’t believe either of her marriages were in any church. I really like this woman. She brings out an entirely different side of me that no one else ever has. My biggest fear is that if she wanted to give it a try with me that I wouldn’t be able to because of her previous marriages that would prevent that. I’m not giving up my Catholic faith to date or marry someone, but I may have found someone who might be willing to give a true gentleman a try and for once both of us could be in a healthy and happy relationship. That’s one of the things about our faith that was easier to understand and deal with on a personal level. Emotions and feelings happen even while you do your best to control them. When someone has had such a bad life of being so mistreated in it (molested, raped, psychological abuse, self esteem destroyed, ability to trust anyone destroyed) it makes it harder when you find someone who makes you forget about all of that and makes you feel so good and you can’t have them around you as a spouse. It’s tough, very tough.

 

[Linusthe2nd]

Can I date and eventually marry a divorced non-baptized person who did not have a sacramental wedding?

Thanks

No brother, not until you have seen her annulment papers! And visa verse for the gals too. Personally I wouldn’t do it even than, that’s a lot of baggage man.

Pax
Linus2nd

 

[on_the_hill]

Is this a hypothetical or real life situation?

Is there a woman you’re interested in, or are you just asking for the sake of asking?