Civil Marriage Divorce, Marrying a Catholic

[RGC777]

I have a few questions, which I hope can be answered.
I was in a civil marriage for 19yrs with a non-Catholic. She was previously married to a Catholic prior to our meeting, and was divorced through the standard civil processes.
We received our official divorce finalization last year.
I was baptized as an infant to a RC family. My wife to be is RC as well. She wishes to be married in our faith in her native Colombia this year.
I am inquiring as to the direction and actual definition of marriage in my case, with the Catholic church.
I was told that the marriage was not deemed as being a fulfillment of the Sacrament of Marriage as the marriage was i) civil in ceremony only and ii) my previous partner was married to a Catholic in a Christian ceremony and did not receive any annulment, etc.
I am certainly not trying to create an argument in any form, but am looking for answers for me heart and wife to be.

 

[fredystairs]

This is really something that you should discuss with a priest. There can be nuances in this situation that can change how one should proceed. I would suggest that you talk with him as soon as possible.

I will keep you in my prayers.

Blessings

 

[Irishmom2]

Your best and most reliable answer would come from your parish priest.

 

[1ke]

I am inquiring as to the direction and actual definition of marriage in my case, with the Catholic church.

I was told that the marriage was not deemed as being a fulfillment of the Sacrament of Marriage as the marriage was i) civil in ceremony only and ii) my previous partner was married to a Catholic in a Christian ceremony and did not receive any annulment, etc.

I am certainly not trying to create an argument in any form, but am looking for answers for me heart and wife to be.

You simply must sit down with a Catholic priest, explain every detail of your marriage, your ex spouse and her marriage(s), and work with the priest. You will need to collect documentation or the priest will do so, such as sacramental records, civil marriage and divorce paperwork, etc.

The priest will then advise you regarding what you need to do.

NO ONE HERE can tell you that you are free to marry. You must be declared free to marry by the Church. There are many variables, and unknowns, such as dispensations that might have been received, decrees of nullity that you don’t know about, etc.

Do not assume anything. Make an appointment with your pastor.

 

[Gorgias]

I was told that the marriage was not deemed as being a fulfillment of the Sacrament of Marriage as the marriage was i) civil in ceremony only and ii) my previous partner was married to a Catholic in a Christian ceremony and did not receive any annulment, etc.

Based on what you’ve written here, we cannot tell you whether your ex-wife’s previous marriage was valid or not; therefore, we cannot tell you whether she was free to marry when you married her.

Moreover, the way you phrased your post suggests that, perhaps, although you were baptized, you may not have practiced your faith. In the timeframe of your civil wedding ceremony, it was a possibility to formally defect from the Catholic Church. Based on what you’ve written here, we have no idea whether that applies to you.

If your ex-wife was free to marry, and if you had defected from the Church, then it’s possible that your marriage to her was valid. If so, then it’s possible that you’re not free to marry in the Church. (In addition, you haven’t said anything that would lead us to be able to discuss whether your current fiancee is free to marry in the Church.)

Talk to your parish priest and ask him to help determine whether you are free to marry in the Church. You won’t be able to get that answer here, regardless what others have said already.

Good luck… and I’ll be praying for ya’ll!

 

[TheLittleLady]

Make an appointment with your pastor, he will begin your marriage prep packet (the “Freedom To Marry” investigation wrt past marriages etc. is part of that packet).

 

[TheLittleLady]

One could not formally defect without knowing you did it.

 

[Gorgias]

One could not formally defect without knowing you did it.

True. And the OP has been silent on this issue.

However, given the confusion (in the post-1983 timeframe) of what ‘formal defection’ really was, there’s quite a bit of grey area there. What if you were never catechized in the Church? What if you never received your sacraments? What if you grew up in a non-Catholic Christian congregation? What if… what if… what if?

Normatively, we want the law to work in favor of the person, so for a person looking to return to the practice of the Catholic faith, we’d want to make sure we didn’t gore him on either horn of this dilemma.

That’s why we can’t make any sort of reasonable pronouncement here in this forum: the OP really, really needs to talk to a priest (and perhaps get his diocesan canon law office engaged in the question) before he can be confident of having received a thoroughly-considered answer.