A
AviSquires
Guest
I must amend my original question (I guess “add something” would be the more appropriate phrase) because some important information, previously unknown to me, came to light last night. After reading the responses on here, I managed to talk to a group of very nice people at the St. Louis Cathedral office. They directed us towards a deacon who handles annulments and other marital situations for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. We spoke on the phone with him and after hearing our information , the deacon said it seemed like my fiancé would indeed need an annulment. He also referred us to a 4wk annulment writing workshop, held every Tues night, which we attended as a couple for the first time last night.
As to be expected, it was mainly geared towards Catholics seeking annulments from other Catholics; however, when we raised the question of our slightly different situation, the man in charge asked us to stay afterwards for a more private discussion. We described in detail our histories and additionally, our future desires. He then asked a very important question, a question no one had asked us until now; **“Was your ex wife married prior to marrying you?” **and my fiancé said “Yes she was”(meaning she’s on her 3rd marriage now). Well this was news to me, since he rarely, if ever, mentions anything about his ex. Upon hearing that, the man in charge said, “You don’t even need to be here because you don’t need an annulment, provided she was indeed married to someone else before you.”
Apparently, this means she was never “free” to marry my fiancé in the first place because she was still married to her first husband in the eyes of the Church. He said all we need to do now, in order to clear up any prior marriage concerns, is to provide the necessary documentation.
Sorry that was so long, I just wanted to describe what happened in detail so I could ask for thoughts on the matter as it stands now. The men who run the workshop only deal with annulments for the Church, so it would seem that they are experts in their field, but everyone else we talked to said he would need to have his prior marriage annulled in order for us to be married in the Catholic Church. He just neglected to mention his ex’s prior marriage to everyone we’ve discussed this with before last night. He didn’t think it would matter and no one ever asked, so he never brought it up.
Does this seem correct to you? Does his former wife’s previous marriage really resolve the need for an annulment , in order for us to be married, the eyes of the Catholic Church?
As to be expected, it was mainly geared towards Catholics seeking annulments from other Catholics; however, when we raised the question of our slightly different situation, the man in charge asked us to stay afterwards for a more private discussion. We described in detail our histories and additionally, our future desires. He then asked a very important question, a question no one had asked us until now; **“Was your ex wife married prior to marrying you?” **and my fiancé said “Yes she was”(meaning she’s on her 3rd marriage now). Well this was news to me, since he rarely, if ever, mentions anything about his ex. Upon hearing that, the man in charge said, “You don’t even need to be here because you don’t need an annulment, provided she was indeed married to someone else before you.”
Apparently, this means she was never “free” to marry my fiancé in the first place because she was still married to her first husband in the eyes of the Church. He said all we need to do now, in order to clear up any prior marriage concerns, is to provide the necessary documentation.
Sorry that was so long, I just wanted to describe what happened in detail so I could ask for thoughts on the matter as it stands now. The men who run the workshop only deal with annulments for the Church, so it would seem that they are experts in their field, but everyone else we talked to said he would need to have his prior marriage annulled in order for us to be married in the Catholic Church. He just neglected to mention his ex’s prior marriage to everyone we’ve discussed this with before last night. He didn’t think it would matter and no one ever asked, so he never brought it up.
Does this seem correct to you? Does his former wife’s previous marriage really resolve the need for an annulment , in order for us to be married, the eyes of the Catholic Church?
