Converting and married to a divorced spouse?

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Pjhstala1

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Hi All,

I’m hoping someone might have an insight or two. I’ve been considering looking more closely at the possibility of converting to Catholicism. The potential problem is that my non-catholic wife had a previous marriage and, of course, a divorce. Her first husband was Catholic though their ceremony was secular/civil.

What might the future hold for me in terms of conversion?

Thanks!
 
Please discuss this with a local Priest at the Parish level. He will advise you and guide you. Ring the Diocese Office and begin your journey there.
We cannot speculate about your conversion without the potential to damage its cause.

You are in my prayers.
 
Pjhstala1 said:
What might the future hold for me in terms of conversion?
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This all gets discussed when you work with your RCIA director if you decide to enter the Church. Anyone can join RCIA for the inquiry period, with no pressure to convert.

If you do decide to pursue the Church… Her marital situation will need to be sorted out. Step one, contact your local priest.

If her ex was in fact a Catholic, and she can document that such as obtaining his sacramental records through the Church, and they married civilly without a dispensation from form and the marriage we never con-validated (as would be noted in his sacramental records) , your marriage to your wife would be valid as far as the Church is concerned. There is no convalidation when two non Catholics are validly married and one converts.

These are a lot of “ifs”. So please sit down with your local pastor and talk through it, one step at a time.
 
Pjhstala1 said:
Her first husband was Catholic though their ceremony was secular/civil.
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Would your wife be supportive of your conversion?

She will need a declaration of nullity for her first marriage and would have to be willing to cooperate with that.

Assuming that no dispensation was granted (or later convalidation) your wifes first marriage would not be valid. If there was the process is more complicated but it may still be possible.
 
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GiftofMercy said:
Ring the Diocese Office and begin your journey there.
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Always start at the local parish level. You said that in the first part of the post but then added this.

The first step is to make contact with the RCIA director who will then guide him on to whoever will handle the marriage case, whether it be a priest or a deacon or a lay advocate.
 
No, the first contact is the RCIA director for a potential convert. The RICA director will then refer them to whoever they need to speak to about their marriage case.

I know you work for a parish, so do I and I have been involved with RCIA for many years. Our priests are crazy busy so answering every phone call regarding RCIA & marriage would stop all other work they do. Doing an initial screening with the RCIA director and then making an appointment with the assigned advocate, be it a priest, deacon, or lay person is the correct way.

In my parish the priests do all the marriage cases so eventually the person will end up with them, but I’ve been in other parishes where the deacons take care of them and some where the advocates are lay people.
 
Did you know that not every parish has an “RCIA coordinator”? And in some parishes baptized persons would not be in RCIA anyway.

In our Diocese, the priests are discouraged from acting as advocates.

How about “check your Diocese website and they will tell you how best to proceed in your specific Diocese”

I checked some random Dioceses, in Dallas they want you to call one specific office, the Office of Worship:

 
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I am very well aware that all diocese do things differently and parishes have different staff and volunteers. It was one of the things I was trying to make clear to you. Not everything is done everywhere the way it is done in your parish.

If your priest the RCIA director then the person in question would speak to him then, wouldn’t he.
TheLittleLady said:
I checked some random Dioceses, in Dallas they want you to call one specific office:
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What do you know, contact RCIA first. Pretty much what I said.
 
Where I am, we must call the Diocese Office to make appointments, and find out who is on where, and what is on where. At the Parish level, some office hours are sporadic. So we ring the Diocese Office, and they direct the enquiry to its appropriate setting.
In this case, the person would be put in contact with RCIA, the Parish Priest and the representative for the Marriage Tribunal. The last contact will usually sort out the marital situation and then be able to advise the others.
The Parish Priest would want to give a warm friendly welcome to the candidate and the RCIA people would want to explain how to become Catholic in detail 🙂
 
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