Lack of Form for non-Catholic party

[geoffp]

I would appreciate some advice on how the ‘Lack of Form’ case applies to a non-Catholic party to a marriage please.

My partner and I married some years ago; she is a baptised Catholic and I was non-Catholic. We married in a civil ceremony in a hotel and she did not seek any dispensations to Form. We are divorced now. I believe in this situation she can receive papers permitting her to remarry in a Catholic church after providing documentary evidence of the ‘Lack of Form’ due to be married to a non-Catholic in a civil ceremony without dispensation.

I am in the process of adopting the Catholic faith and will be baptised as such. I wish to marry my Catholic girlfriend in Church and also have her (and me) able to take the sacrament in the future. Can I also receive papers allowing me to marry in church on the grounds that my ex-wife and I married with a “Lack of Form” even though I was a non-Catholic at the time?

Or do I have to seek an annulment?

Thanks for your advice

 

[Phemie]

Speak to your pastor.

If the facts are as you laid out, your previous marriage isn’t presumed valid but that has to be recognized by the Church. It will require acquiring a newly-issued certificate of baptism to prove that your ex-wife was Catholic and that your marriage isn’t recorded in her baptismal record; your marriage documents that prove where and who married you (that may mean more than your marriage certificate); and your divorce papers. It may be all you need for your pastor to proceed or he may have to send those documents to the marriage tribunal for processing – that all depends on your diocese.

 

[Br.Rich_SFO]

I would appreciate some advice on how the ‘Lack of Form’ case applies to a non-Catholic party to a marriage please.

My partner and I married some years ago; she is a baptised Catholic and I was non-Catholic. We married in a civil ceremony in a hotel and she did not seek any dispensations to Form. We are divorced now. I believe in this situation she can receive papers permitting her to remarry in a Catholic church after providing documentary evidence of the ‘Lack of Form’ due to be married to a non-Catholic in a civil ceremony without dispensation.

I am in the process of adopting the Catholic faith and will be baptised as such. I wish to marry my Catholic girlfriend in Church and also have her (and me) able to take the sacrament in the future. Can I also receive papers allowing me to marry in church on the grounds that my ex-wife and I married with a “Lack of Form” even though I was a non-Catholic at the time?

Or do I have to seek an annulment?

Thanks for your advice

Either one of you can submit papers showing that the Marriage is null due to lack of Canonical Form. Since she was Catholic and you are seeking to become Catholic.

 

[1ke]

I am in the process of adopting the Catholic faith and will be baptised as such. I wish to marry my Catholic girlfriend in Church and also have her (and me) able to take the sacrament in the future. Can I also receive papers allowing me to marry in church on the grounds that my ex-wife and I married with a “Lack of Form” even though I was a non-Catholic at the time?

Yes. You can.

Or do I have to seek an annulment?

Not unless you fail to prove your ex-wife is a Catholic. (i.e. inability to obtain sacramental records).

Start by talking to your priest. He will guide you through the process of collecting the necessary documents.

 

[geoffp]

Thank you so much for these answers. This is a great relief to me. I will speak to my priest. God bless you. Geoff