Grounds for Marriage Annulment in the Catholic Church

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I’ve been involved in quite a few—in several dioceses and in Rome. I believe it is the case.
 
My honest feeling, and from real life situations, is that it’s pretty easy if both parties want out. This type of list makes it very easy.

I do think @JulianN and @(name removed by moderator) are genuine participants with an honest approach to the discernment.
 
First, many cases in that 90% are lack of form cases. Those don’t need to go through a Tribunal canonically, but usually do.

For the full cases, there is a level of self-selection. Sadly, most Catholics who divorce never bother to inquire about a decree of nullity.
Those who do, and have no case, are often weeded out at the parish level.

So by the time a case reaches the Tribunal, it’s not surprising it has a higher degree of likelihood that the petition will be granted.
 
Are you saying parish pastors often refuse to support couples wishing to seek annulments?

Even with that massive questionare listed by one diocese?
 
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I don’t believe it’s really a matter of refusing, rather it’s more of a determination by a priest that it is very unlikely a petition will move forward in the tribunal. If the priest feels there is a lack of grounds he may advise one or both of the parties to not seek an annulment.
 
Well, I’ve done it. And I know others who have as well. It’s not that the parish can refuse someone, but rather help them really look at whether there are likely grounds.

People have to be highly motivated to enter into this process—I haven’t actually seen anyone who was interested in gaming the system. I’m not saying it never happens, but I don’t believe it’s that common.
 
Well, one can choose the parish, but not the Tribunal as much. The case will be heard either in the diocese where the respondent lives or the diocese where the marriage occurred, unless a change in competence is granted.
 
If it was speculation my comment would have indicated it was so. I’ve been through my own tribunal case which was granted due to lack of ability to give consent. It was a second marriage for both of us, his previous wife was living and my previous husband was deceased. Cases like mine make up a large portion of that 90%. I had just converted to the Catholic and while I wasn’t planning another marriage I wanted to be free to do so if things changed in the future.

Many of the cases that do get presented to the tribunal are a result of folks converting to the Church or a Catholic wants to marry a person who has a previous marriage.

I understand you are in pain due to the situation with your wife. Whether or not an annulment is granted has nothing to do with the tribunal process or the questionnaire. It will granted or not granted based on the information presented. My unsolicited advice would be to focus on what you can control and do your best to control that well, with the grace of God.
 
I recommend petitioners NOT study the grounds for annulment prior to beginning the process. Rather, they should seek out a seasoned case assistant who will guide them in truthfully answering certain question. Studying Canon Law prior to writing often results in a number of deleterious effects.

For one, it delays the start of actual work. Some petitioners also find such study stressful and may decide not to continue. Others (most in my experience) misinterpret the canons and come to errant conclusions prior to writing.

Still others let their reading badly influence how they tell the court the story since they have, in effect, already tried the case in their own minds. These often end up writing in a way that sounds scripted, lacking in credibility and reflects a prejudgment or false expertise which can come across as arrogant to the court. I’ve seen a few cases thrown out over this in my career.

Many years ago, a couple of my petitioners refused to give detailed answers to the questions, though asked repeatedly by me and other tribunal personnel. Rather, they merely gave opinions and quoted canons to the tribunal which they thought “proved” their cases. I guess they didn’t realize that the judges already know the law. There’s nothing a petitioner is going to teach anyone who holds a JCL.

All a petitioner really needs to do is answer questions truthfully and fully. It’s that simple. The canonists, procurator, advocate, defender and judges will apply the law according to their training, the facts and what is right.
 
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I’ve never refused to send, for brief review, a roughed-out questionnaire for a petitioner, even if I’ve told them I see no apparent grounds. I always give them that option for a second opinion. Most stop the process at that point. Some stop after they hear also from the tribunal that the case seems to have no merit. I’ve never seen a case like that go forward. But I feel that’s only right to offer this option so no doubt lingers in their minds. Since it’s free to send the questionnaire for review, there’s really nothing to lose. Our analysts are quite happy to do this as it takes very little time.
 
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My husband went through the nullity process and his first marriage was found to be invalid. Let me explain his situation and I’ll also explain the process he had to follow.

Hubby met his ex online. She was on the rebound from a 7-year relationship that she had been in since high school. Her parents had basically told her in no uncertain terms before she met Hubby that her biological clock was ticking and they expected grandchildren. About 4 months after she and Hubby met online he came to visit her (he lived in the UK, she was in Canada). He stayed with her for 2 weeks, proposed, returned to the UK to settle his affairs, returned to Canada after 3 months and moved in with her. Within 2-3 months they realized they weren’t very compatible and didn’t have much in common. They were considering ending the engagement when they discovered she was pregnant. This put Hubby in a bind. He wanted to stay in the country and be a father to his child, but he is autistic so he had limited education and job prospects (he had been on benefits in the UK and wasn’t allowed to work, though he did some volunteering). The only way he could stay in the country was on the family class and to do that they had to get married. So they got married about 3 months later. To give you an idea, it was about 13 or 14 months from meeting online to marriage. They were married for 4 years before she left him. She was having an affair. She told him (and confirmed to a witness that she had said this) that as far as she was concerned, marriage was glorified common law with ceremonial benefits attached, the vows she took were purely ceremonial and didn’t really mean anything, and if she wasn’t happy she reserved the right to walk away. (Worth noting that neither was Catholic when they married - she was a non-practicing Lutheran and Hubby had never been baptized. They married in a civil ceremony with no marriage preparation. Both converted to Catholicism after the wedding.)

When Hubby went to have the marriage investigated he was dating me and we wanted to marry. (We started dating over a year after his ex left him. We knew he likely had strong grounds for nullity.) This is the process that he had to go through:
 
  1. He had to gather his documents. This meant a certified copy of the registration of marriage (required because the marriage wasn’t celebrated in the Church) and a copy of the divorce certificate. He also had to fill out the preliminary investigation form. He was asked such questions as “Describe any problems that occurred during the courtship (e.g. premarital pregnancy, abuse, etc.).” “Did anything unusual happen on the wedding day?” “Was there any indication that you or the other spouse might be unfaithful?” “When did problems begin in the marriage?” “What were the problems and what caused them?” “Give the dates of any temporary separations. Why did you decide to get back together?” He also had to provide the names and addresses of three witnesses and the addresses of every place he and his ex had lived during the marriage. He even had to indicate that he was dating me with a view to marriage, provide my contact details, and indicate my current marital status (i.e. was I single, widowed, or divorced and if the latter how was I free to marry).
  2. He had to go to our parish priest who also had to fill out paperwork. The priest was asked how long he’d been in his current position, his familiarity with Hubby’s marital problems, and his assessment of Hubby’s character and truthfulness.
  3. The preliminary investigation forms, the priest’s form, and a deposit were submitted.
  4. Hubby got a letter stating that they had received his application and assigning him a case number and case instructor.
  5. Hubby, his ex, and his three witnesses were invited to interviews with the parish priest. (His ex declined to attend, which is her right.) At the interviews the priest asked more detailed questions about the situation.
  6. Hubby received a letter stating that all of the evidence was in and a decree had been issued. The decree gave him and his ex 2 weeks in which they could review the evidence if they wished. (Hubby didn’t feel he needed to do so - his witnesses, friends of his, were familiar with the issues and his ex had declined to participate so there wasn’t anything there he didn’t already know and he wasn’t about to dispute anything.)
  7. Hubby received a letter stating that the tribunal had given an affirmative decision and the case had been submitted to the appeals tribunal (this was prior to the reforms so an appeal was required).
  8. Lastly, Hubby received a letter stating that the appeals tribunal had upheld the decision, he could appeal to the Rota if he wanted, otherwise he was free to marry, and he could contact his pastor to make marriage arrangements.
Just for the record: just because you submit a request for the Rota to review your case doesn’t mean they will actually accept it. I believe that the Rota only reviews a small portion of the cases that are submitted to them.
 
I’m sure they want ignorant petitioners.

Not advice I like to hear
 
I am not going to blindly trust any one to tell me about my Sacrament. If my wife tells me her will was affected to consent a proper Christian vow, I would accept that. Otherwise, we have no grounds.
 
And couples who are not choosing the Church for the right reasons are motivated to just say whatever is necessary to get the wedding that makes Mom happy.
 
No one. I have a Catholic annulment from a 10 year marriage. I had a Canon attorney do the paperwork for my annulment and he told me he believed every SINGLE Catholic marriage that ended in divorce was “annulable” for some reason HAD to exist at the time of consent.

He had never “lost a case”

And oh, the Tribunal in my diocese was a joke. I called the head Tribunal secretary and explained my situation.
(My huband left me after 10 years of marriage) that I MUST HAVE DONE SOMETHING WRONG for him to leave me and the "Tribunal would help me sort that out)

The whole annulment process is a complete joke.
 
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