Is my previous marriage valid in the eyes of the church?

[Susansmum]

My husband and I have divorced and I need to know where I stand in relation to remarriage for the future. I need to know if my previous marriage was valid in the eyes of the church.

At the time of the marriage
I was baptized and confirmed Anglican (although non practicing)
He had been baptized Mormon but also non practicing.
It was a civil ceremony

I converted to catholicism towards the end of my marriage. I spoke to my priest during RI and he believed it could be made valid and it shouldn’t be an impediment to me joining the church.

My husband refused to meet with the priest or do anything that may have been required to make the marriage valid or if it was already valid, sacramental.

It was never clear to me if it was actually valid. It was suggested due to my difficulty with my husband not wanting anything to do with the church to treat it as if it was valid.

Now I want to know does it meet the requirements for a valid marriage or am I free to remarry should that ever become an option?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

Your civil marriage is considered a valid natural marriage.

Neither you nor your husband were Catholic, so you had no obligation to be married in a church. When you exchanged vows, your marriage was valid.

You were validly baptized but the Church does not recognize the validity of Mormon baptisms so your husband is considered an unbaptized person. A sacramental marriage can only take place between two baptized persons, therefore you and your husband had a natural rather than sacramental marriage.

While a sacramental marriage is indissoluble, a natural marriage can be dissolved. Since you were validly baptized it would fall under what’s called the Petrine Privilege.

There are four requirements for this privilege:

• At least one of the parties had to be unbaptized at the time of the marriage and throughout the time they lived together

• If after the marriage both parties become baptized, no sexual relations occurred after both were baptized

• The one seeking the privilege cannot be the one responsible for the failure of the marriage

• If the privilege is requested to permit a Catholic and a non-Catholic to marry, the non-Catholic must give the Catholic full freedom to practice his/her faith and must promise to raise all children in the Catholic Church.