M
Miss_Piggy
Guest
I just saw the other question on this subject. I was married in the Church to a man who was baptized Catholic and of his own accord chose to be received into the Church because he wanted to marry me. He left me with a newborn baby before our second anniversary. It was such a devastating experience that it took me two years to sort through it all and file for a divorce (after counseling, etc.) During this time there was a lot of upheaval in our church with many priests being shuffled through. Our archbishop was also being investigated by the Vatican. I filled out all of the paperwork for the annulment and it was eventually sent to a tribunal in a diocese in another state.
During the two year wait, I assumed that you could not date, but then after a number of months someone told me I could. I asked the priest at the church at the time if I was allowed to date. He said, “Yes, just be careful.” I was never sure what that meant–be careful not to have intimate relations? be careful not to get too emotionally involved in case you can’t remarry? I never understood what that part of the statement meant, but I thought he was a good priest and I depended on his answer. If he had said no, I would not have dated. Of that, I am sure. I did date and after the annulment was granted, I became engaged and married.
MY QUESTION: NOW THAT I KNOW THAT WAS NOT RIGHT, SHOULD I CONFESS IT? EVEN IF I AM NOT CULPABLE BECAUSE I SINCERELY RELIED ON HIS GUIDANCE, WOULD IT STILL BE GOOD TO CONFESS OR IS THE PRIEST I CONFESS TO GOING TO THINK I’M BEING SCRUPULOUS? I can’t tell you how good it is to have someone to ask these questions (someone I can trust to tell me the hard truths) Thank you!!!
During the two year wait, I assumed that you could not date, but then after a number of months someone told me I could. I asked the priest at the church at the time if I was allowed to date. He said, “Yes, just be careful.” I was never sure what that meant–be careful not to have intimate relations? be careful not to get too emotionally involved in case you can’t remarry? I never understood what that part of the statement meant, but I thought he was a good priest and I depended on his answer. If he had said no, I would not have dated. Of that, I am sure. I did date and after the annulment was granted, I became engaged and married.
MY QUESTION: NOW THAT I KNOW THAT WAS NOT RIGHT, SHOULD I CONFESS IT? EVEN IF I AM NOT CULPABLE BECAUSE I SINCERELY RELIED ON HIS GUIDANCE, WOULD IT STILL BE GOOD TO CONFESS OR IS THE PRIEST I CONFESS TO GOING TO THINK I’M BEING SCRUPULOUS? I can’t tell you how good it is to have someone to ask these questions (someone I can trust to tell me the hard truths) Thank you!!!