Can sleeping in separate beds annul a marriage?

[ChristianWAB]

This is a serious question.

My wife firmly believes that the Catholic Church can “cancel” our marriage on account of the fact that she and I sleep in two different beds in two different rooms.

I’m a heavy snorer. I don’t mean to be, but I can’t help it. I sleep in another room so that both of us can get a good night’s sleep. If we sleep together, I snore, she kicks me, I fall back asleep and snore again, she kicks me again and this process is repeated over and over again throughout the night.

Now that my wife has told me that the Catholic Church can “cancel” our marriage on account of this, I need to get the facts and find the truth. So far, the Bible says nothing about this, but I need a Catholic perspective.

Thank you.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

My friend,

I sympathize with both of you. It’s not easy sleeping with one who snores. It is also not easy being literally kicked out of the room and being separated from the intimacy of one’s spouse.

The Catholic Church cannot cancel marriages. It can investigate the circumstances that surrounded the wedding. If it can be proven that an element necessary for a valid marriage was missing, then there was no marriage in the first place and the Church can declare that the marriage is null. Annulments can never be declared because of what transpires years after the wedding.

I know that there ARE remedies for snoring. I see ads on TV for a strip that one puts on the nose. This may not work for you. But I strongly suggest that you leave no stone unturned until you find something that DOES work because your wife needs you next to her. And you need her! You both are in my prayers.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.