Does this annulment still count even though I was not Catholic?

[TabbyLilac]

I feel like I’m posting a LOT lately, but I am just very passionate and excited about (finally!) becoming Catholic, that I can’t help but be extremely focused on it, so I apologize for the frequent questions.

Anyway as I’ve said in other threads, I was married twice when I was young, unbaptized, basically atheist, etc. Both marriages were awful and not “Marriages” in any true sense of the word. They took place pretty much back to back and neither lasted more than a year. Both men became abusive, and BOTH pretended to want children when we were dating (which was very important to me) and then after marrying stated that they absolutely did not want children. Both abused drugs. Yes, I really made some terrible decisions back then.

Well near the end of my 2nd marriage I, at one point considered joining the Catholic Church because there was one near my house where I often went and sat in a pew alone to escape from my scary and abusive husband. Because I had one divorce under my belt, when I approached the Church about joining they put me in contact with their Deacon who helped people with annulments, and we began the process of having my first marriage annulled by the Catholic Church.

I never actually got to begin the RCIA classes or anything else, as we abruptly moved across the country for a brief period of time, and I abandoned my thoughts of joining the Church as I decided that I was far too much of a lost cause.

Right before we left though, I recall the Deacon leaving me a message that my first marriage had been approved for annulment. At the time everything was falling apart, so it didn’t mean much to me, I was basically just trying to survive each day and living in pretty hellish circumstances.

But now I’m wondering whether I need to work on getting this first marriage annulled again or not since at the time I didn’t go through with actually joining the Church. I’ve contacted the parish where this took place and am hoping to hear back from them soon, but just wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experience with something like this. I am ok with having to go through the annulment process for this 1st marriage again, but if it isn’t necessary obviously then I won’t.

Thank you for reading and for your help!

 

[runningdude]

One does not need to be Catholic to seek an annulment from the Catholic Church. So long as the record exists, it would still apply. There is no reason that the record would be purposefully lost or destroyed, so should be a relatively smooth matter of retrieving it from the archive.

 

[TabbyLilac]

Thank you!!! That is such wonderful, welcome good news!!

 

[1ke]

Contact the diocese in which you petitioned. It may or may not be complete. In the diocesan tribunal system there is a court of first and second instance. It may have gone through only the first since you never returned the deacon’s call, or it may have gone through both. hard to know.

So call that diocese and ask for your tribunal records.

If the Church made a ruling on the validity of your first marriage, yes, it “counts”. The Church has full authority to do so, whether you were Catholic or not.

Please give ALL of the details of your marriages to your current pastor. This is important information for him to have. He can call the diocese on your behalf if you would like him to.

 

[TabbyLilac]

Thank you, this is very helpful information, I will look into it as you’ve suggested.

 

[His_helpmeet]

Thank you, this is very helpful information, I will look into it as you’ve suggested.

Just to reiterate what 1ke said, there is NO requirement for one to be Catholic in order to receive a declaration of nullity. ANY divorced person who wants to marry a Catholic, or a divorced and remarried person who wants to become Catholic, MUST receive a declaration of nullity. In the case of a divorced and remarried person who wants to become Catholic, it’s often a requirement that the declaration of nullity be granted before the person can enter the Church.

In the case of two people who were validly baptized using a Trinitarian formula, the marriage is automatically a sacrament - even if they were not baptized in the Catholic Church. In the case where one or both parties was not validly baptized, the marriage is a natural marriage. (Both cases assume that the marriage was valid.) Either way, the ordinary assumption is that the marriage was valid until proven otherwise, unless there is a glaringly obvious impediment, such as a Catholic marrying outside the Church, being too closely related, or having been previously married.