How to get my marriaged validated?

[mooneys]

Background:
I was brought up catholic in grade school and high school and continued to consider myself catholic while in the college and military but I was not exactly following all of my obligations as a catholic like I had been earlier in life. I eventually started my career and moved to another area. I joined my local parish, but I still was not following or keeping up with all of my obligations. I guess I was “falling away” at that point, but still wanted to be considered catholic.

I eventually met a wonderful woman who was protestant. We got engaged and started planning a wedding, but because of my upbringing in the Catholic Church I had some concerns because of her background. She had been married and divorced. Her previous husband was also married prior and divorced prior to their marriage. From my research and from conversations with a local pastor prior to getting married I was possibly in a position to have my wife’s prior marriage classified as not being valid because her ex-husband had also been married prior. Because of timing I went ahead and got married before having the marriage dispensated, but had planned to go through the process of getting our marriage validated with the catholic church soon after. Well that hasn’t happened yet, my fault, but I need some guidance on how to get this done now that I want to become a good practicinig Catholic.

Thanks in advance

 

[puzzleannie]

make an appointment with your pastor right away and lay out all the facts about your marriage, and about the previous marriages of either of you (as far as you know them). It will be up to him to determine what procedure needs to be followed. Every marriage situation is different and you can’t go by what happened to anybody else. You are not party to all the facts about your wife’s ex or his marital background, which is why the marriage tribunal almost certainly will have to investigate her previous marriage. Make that appointment tomorrow as soon as the parish office opens. Also ask the priest for an appointment for confession and ask for his guidance on what you yourself, as the Catholic party, needs to do to achieve and remain in the state of sanctifying grace while you are waiting for this to be resolved. As it stands, until it is determined whether or not your wife’s previous marriage was valid, and an annulment obtained if necessary, your current marriage cannot be convalidated.

 

[mooneys]

Thanks puzzleannie,

I called my local parish this morning and have an appointment to meet with a Deacon today. I guess I’m on my way again