Can I pursue a friendship with a man seeking an annulment?

[Betty09]

Several years ago, in high school, I dated a man and remained friends with him after our relationship didn’t work out. I have been in another relationship for several years since then, and attended his wedding with my significant other. When he became married, we discontinued getting together for dinner or any other situation alone, as I believed it would have been inappropriate for him to be alone with a woman who was not his wife, even in friendship.

We remained in contact, however, and now he is divorced and we would like to get together as we used to. He is seeking an annulment, but I am not sure whether it would be appropriate to go out for dinner, as he is still married in the eyes of the Church. I should note that my boyfriend has met him several times and has no problem with us getting together. I am not interested in any kind of romance with this man, just to be friends as we were before. I value the sanctity of marriage, so my question is what is the appropriate way to handle this situation?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Unless there is some hidden temptation that one or both of you is experiencing that you have not mentioned here, I do not understand why you believe that a man and woman cannot have a platonic friendship, whatever their marital status. Sure, there are certain conventions that should be observed to avoid near occasions of sin and the possibility of scandal, but those shouldn’t necessarily prevent two people of the opposite sex from meeting for dinner in a restaurant from time to time. As a rule of thumb, those conventions should be any convention you would automatically observe if you were meeting a female friend in a public restaurant (e.g., arriving and departing separately, a non-romantic location that governs both choice of restaurant and choice of seating, no non-platonic touching, separate checks, etc.). If either of you did happen to be currently married (in the legal sense), prudence would suggest including the spouse(s).