Joining the Catholic Church as a divorced person

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MarkSaint

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Ok, my wife and I are looking for a church. I’ve studied Catholic teachings and church history. We’ve been successfully married for 28 years. Both of us are Protestant, I was married before for a short time and she has never been married. Are we able to join the church?
 
You’d have to look into getting an annulment if your ex wife is still alive. If not then no issues. Talk to a priest who should be able to advise you.
 
There are a lot of mitigating factors to whether or not that marriage was valid to begin with. I would, were I you, find out what those factors are. For instance, how old were y’all when you when you got married for the first time?
 
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Find a parish and talk to a priest. Welcome home! May your swimming of the Tiber be easy and quick.
 
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Is your first wife alive? Was she at the time of your second marriage?

If the answer to both is no, there’s no problem. If the answer to the first is no, but the second is yes, then your marriage would need to be convalidated. If she’s still alive, then I’d recommend discussing with a priest whether there may have been anything preventing the first from being valid. Alternatively, if your first wife wasn’t baptized, the Church can dissolve the former marriage, allowing your current one to be convalidated.
 
Thanks for the replies. Yes my first wife sought the divorce which, as it were, a blessing, considering the path she took in life. A drunkard, cheating, drug addict who I really don’t even think was truly Christian. My second wife has been a blessing and we have created a healthy strong Christian family of six.
 
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Arkansan said:
the answer to the first is no, but the second is yes, then your marriage would need to be convalidated.
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If both were non Catholics at the time of their marriage, this isn’t actually true.
 
Talk to your local pastor, this is a process and he will guide you through inquiry and dealing with any impediments
 
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Of course you can come home to the Catholic Church. Being divorced and remarried won’t prevent it. You will go through RCIA and there, the relevant people- Priest and Diocese officials will guide you both through the next steps.

These steps could be looking into annulments for first marriages, or other options.

Please make an appointment with the Priest in the Parish you are joining and be guided by him.
 
MarkSaint said:
Thanks for the replies. Yes my first wife sought the divorce which, as it were, a blessing, considering the path she took in life. A drunkard, cheating, drug addict who I really don’t even think was truly Christian. My second wife has been a blessing and we have created a healthy strong Christian family of six.
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If you weren’t married in the Catholic Church the first time, I’d think you could get an annulment based on form. But a priest would know.
 
ConstantLearner said:
If you weren’t married in the Catholic Church the first time, I’d think you could get an annulment based on form.
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Only Catholics and Orthodox are required to be married according to form. This wouldn’t apply to Protestants (or all Protestant marriages would be invalid and they’re not).
 
Of course. Makes a LOT of sense. Thank you for the post.
 
ConstantLearner said:
If you weren’t married in the Catholic Church the first time, I’d think you could get an annulment based on form.
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The OP indicates neither of them were Catholic. Therefore, there is no requirement to marry in Catholic form. There can be no declaration of freedom to marry based on “lack of form” when the parties involved were neither Catholic (nor Orthodox, which is a specific exceptIon due to validity of their sacraments).

Non Catholics marry validly when they marry civilly, in general, barring any other impediments.
 
What a completely bizarre, offensive, and inappropriate post for this thread.

I hope the OP can overlook such rudeness.
 
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I get like that sometimes when trying to tell it from a lot of different perspectives. The worlds crazy and full of bad intentions. I’m on the front lines in a lot of it. Happens everyday.

I actually hope that he can laugh and say, “I’m good on all that”
 
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And I flagged it.

Jesus came to call sinners.

That includes strippers
 
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Non-Catholics can’t validly marry while they have a living spouse either.
 
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