mariainman:
I am a Catholic. I married a divorced protestant man. He told me that his first marriage was in a protestant church and that his ex-wife was baptized. During our marriage I went several times to see different Priests to have our marriage blessed in the Catholic Church. Through the years I got different answers. The first was that they would have to send the paper work to Rome. They requested $200 to start this. We were poor so I let years go by before trying again.
Another time the priest told us that they would have to have interviews with both parties(my husband and his ex) to see if their marriage could be annulled since they were both baptized. My husband dropped that ball.
Many years later, my husband decides to make me happy and goes to see another priest on his own. I’m not sure what was said but the verdict was that he did not need an annulment since neither he nor his ex were Catholic. That is what he told me and I was not going to argue. We had our marriage Blessed by this Priest in a Catholic Church without any trouble.
Since then my husband has become a practicing Catholic. My question is what are the current rules on marrying a divorced baptized protestant and was there something fishy about the way I got my marriage blessed? Reminds me of how Isaac got his Father’s blessing.
Something does not ring true about this, and the details raise several red flags for me as a canon lawyer who works in a tribunal full time. Since you speak of “many years” passing, it is possible that some of the details are explained by what the law required prior to the new Code of Canon Law was issued in November 1983. The behavior of one priest also suggests this. The behavior of the last priest mentioned raises questions for me.
I will not comment on those details or speculate about that, but respond generally. Your case requires speaking with a canon lawyer in your diocese or at least in person with someone truly expert in Church marriage law. It would be imprudent to try to resolve it through an internet forum.
However, any marriage, whether between Catholics or non Catholics, as in your husband’s first marriage, must be formally investigated by a tribunal or resolved by another Church process, and the freedom of the parties to enter marriage, which is what convalidation is, has to be established before that convalidation could happen. That was true before 1983 and remains true.
To clarify this, I recommend you speak with your parish priest. If he is the same person who said no “annulment” was needed because your husband and his former wife were non Catholic, message me privately and indicate the city and state in which you live. I will respond by telling you how to contact the tribunal in your own diocese. Then you should pose this situation to one of its canon lawyers.
God bless,
