Is a shotgun marriage valid?

[mt_gooseberry]

My husband and I got married in a civil ceremony two years ago. We wish to have a Catholic wedding now that we have both grown closer to the Catholic Church. (My husband was raised Catholic, I intend to do RCIA). However, my husband is divorced. His previous marriage was also only a civil ceremony. He was 21 and had gotten a 17-year-old pregnant. The girl’s father was a lawyer and threatened to have my husband thrown in jail if he did not marry her. Neither my husband nor the girl wanted to get married. They were divorced less than two years into the marriage. I have been told by two different priests that we cannot get married because of this previous relationship. My husband and I have two children and I do not want to live the rest of my life in a sinful state but I can’t imagine breaking apart our family. How can we fix this?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

The priests you spoke with probably are correct that you and your husband are not currently free to marry in a Catholic ceremony. However, if your husband and his first wife were coerced against their will into a civil ceremony, then it is very possible that this marriage was presumptively invalid, especially if your Catholic husband did not have the necessary dispensation from his bishop to marry in a non-Catholic ritual. Your husband should approach his pastor and ask for assistance in placing his first marriage before a diocesan marriage tribunal for adjudication. If an annulment is granted, the two of you can then marry in a Catholic ritual.