Is annulment needed?

[vince2paul]

If a non-Catholic get married with a non-Catholic and divorce. After that, he wants to get married in a Catholic Church. Does s/he need annulment for the previous marriage? Does the Church recognise marriage outside the Church?

How if the people are Protestant get married in Protestant Church?
How about atheists just get civil marriage?

I’ve read other threads and still couldn’t get clear answer.

 

[1ke]

If a non-Catholic get married with a non-Catholic and divorce. After that, he wants to get married in a Catholic Church. Does s/he need annulment for the previous marriage? Does the Church recognise marriage outside the Church?

How if the people are Protestant get married in Protestant Church?
How about atheists just get civil marriage?

I’ve read other threads and still couldn’t get clear answer.

**Yes **to all of the above.

The Church recognizes civil marriages of baptized non-Catholics, religious marriages of baptized non-Catholics, and civil or religious marriages of the unbaptized as valid.

Any prior marriage needs to be investigated by the Church.

Go talk to a priest, lay out all the facts, and then he will guide you through what needs to be done.

 

[Malcolm_McLean]

If a non-Catholic get married with a non-Catholic and divorce. After that, he wants to get married in a Catholic Church. Does s/he need annulment for the previous marriage? Does the Church recognise marriage outside the Church?

How if the people are Protestant get married in Protestant Church?
How about atheists just get civil marriage?

I’ve read other threads and still couldn’t get clear answer.

If there is any doubt about a person being already married, for instance vows have been exchanged, or some woman not known to be a fantasist claims there was a marriage, or the previous partner has disappeared, or whatever, then the matter needs to be resolved. A prior civil marriage to a non-Catholic would fall into that category. However the fact that one of the partners was a Catholic but the marraige was contracted outside of a church is a strong indicator that it wasn’t valid. If two atheists get married outside of the church then the presumption would be that their vows were valid, because they are not acting in disobedience to their tradition.

 

[JezuUfamTobie]

As 1ke stated, any prior marriage needs to be investigated by the Church in order to know whether or not it was valid.

The* only *exception (that I know of) is in the case of a Catholic who has married outside the Church, without permission. The Church already knows that this marriage is invalid, because it is obvious that the circumstances violated canon law. In these cases, no investigation is made, but one must contact the diocese in order to set one’s official parish records straight and receive a formal decree of nullity (a very brief and simple process–I think mine took a week).

All other marriages, by Catholics and non-Catholics alike, must be thoroughly investigated by the tribunal in order to determine validity.

 

[puzzleannie]

If a non-Catholic get married with a non-Catholic and divorce. After that, he wants to get married in a Catholic Church. Does s/he need annulment for the previous marriage? Does the Church recognise marriage outside the Church?

How if the people are Protestant get married in Protestant Church?
How about atheists just get civil marriage?

I’ve read other threads and still couldn’t get clear answer.

there are too many variables to give a straight answer to a question about one individual situation. Every marriage is unique. The way to get the best answer is to go to the pastor of your nearest Catholic Church, present him with all the facts of the marriage history of both parties, and let him direct you. Bottom line, the Catholic Church considers all marriages as valid until proven otherwise. It would be absurd to do otherwise.