Lack of Form or ligamen

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sugarbreak

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Hi,

I am new here and I tried to do a search but I am not finding exactly what I am looking for.

I was baptized Catholic but I have never made my communion or confirmation. 20 years ago I was married to another Catholic in a Catholic Church. We got divorced and I got remarried to another baptized Catholic in a civil ceremony. (we have subsequently divorced)

I got remarried (yes 3rd time) to another baptized Catholic. I was going through RCIA last year to make my communion but my annulment wasn’t completed in time and my current husband has just started RCIA and is in the process of his annulment. My question is, what do I have to do for my 2nd marriage. I think since it wasn’t valid because I didn’t have a declaration of nulity from my first marriage that it would be “lack of form” but I am also finding “ligamen” in my research. I will be discussing this with my Priest but I was hoping someone here would have an answer.

Thank You for your help.
 
taking this as a hypothetical case
your first marriage would be considered first.
if that was found invalid, then your second marriage would be considered. since it is on the face of it invalid due to lack of form, that would be a paperwork thing. then assuming in neither case there was an addendum requiring some action before another marriage, you would be free to convalidate the existing marriage. (if either of your exes has since died, then of course that marriage would be over in any case).

example–the decree of nullity from the first marriage may require that the grounds be addressed before anothe rmarriage is attempted, if the grounds were some incapacity or failed intent on your part.

you must begin this process with the priest. any advice here is going to be just that, hypothetical, and only marginally useful in your personal situation

your priest will hopefully see to it that you are preparing for Confirmation and First Communion at the same time your husband is in RCIA, and you are working on the marriage situation. Once you have sacramentally returned to the state of grace (rectified the marriage situation and any other problems, been absolved in confession from any mortal sin arising from those issues) you will complete your Christian initiation.

yay! welcome home
 
Thank you.

I just wanted to add that the annulment of my first marriage was completed in April. I am now trying to figure out how to proceed with my 2nd marriage so that my 3rd marriage can be convalidated. Would my 2nd marriage have been valid since I didn’t have the annulment from my first marriage?
 
sugarbreak said:
Thank you.

I just wanted to add that the annulment of my first marriage was completed in April. I am now trying to figure out how to proceed with my 2nd marriage so that my 3rd marriage can be convalidated. Would my 2nd marriage have been valid since I didn’t have the annulment from my first marriage?
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Short answer - Yes. Slightly longer, since it has been established that your first marriage was null, you were free at the time of your second marriage to marry, even if you didn’t have evidence of it at the time. However, since you and/or your spouse were Catholic, it should be just a bit of paperwork to show lack of form, i.e. it was not in accord with the rules of the Church for a Catholic marriage. It is unrelated to your first marriage.

Re
but I am also finding “ligamen” in my research
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Ligamen refers to a case where one of the parties had a valid former marriage which renders the current marriage invalid. It is a fairly straight forward matter of examining the paper work. This is a case where A marries B, but B was previously married to C, who is still living. B’s marriage to C is assumed valid, unless proven otherwise; so A’s marriage to B is null. [Note that any marriage is presumed valid unless/until proven otherwise. It is not necessary to prove it.]
 
Joe_Kelley said:
[Note that any marriage is presumed valid unless/until proven otherwise. It is not necessary to prove it.]
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Not quite. The marriage of a Catholic outside the Catholic Church without a dispensation is not presumed valid. That’s why it’s not even necessary to submit this to the Tribunal (although many dioceses do so) and it’s just a matter of paperwork.
 
I think you would do better to ask your pastor about this matter than airing it here.
 
Phemie said:
Not quite. The marriage of a Catholic outside the Catholic Church without a dispensation is not presumed valid. That’s why it’s not even necessary to submit this to the Tribunal (although many dioceses do so) and it’s just a matter of paperwork.
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In this diocese, and probably others in this area at least. it has to be reviewed and signed off by the Tribunal; fairly automatic.
 
Joe_Kelley said:
In this diocese, and probably others in this area at least. it has to be reviewed and signed off by the Tribunal; fairly automatic.
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That is the prevailing practice in the states from what I gather.
 
JulianN said:
I believe it is in Canada as well. But I could be wrong. 🤷
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It depends on the bishop, and possibly the case. I’m quite familiar with one where the bishop told the pastor to simply record everything in the prenuptial investigation, making sure to have all the documents to support it. It might be because this one had originated in our diocese and everything was evident.
 
Thank you all for your replies. We are in the Detroit Metro area so I am assuming that the tribunal will have to sign off on this if in fact it really is a matter of “lack of form.” At any rate, I will be calling Msgr. in the morning.
 
sugarbreak said:
Thank you all for your replies. We are in the Detroit Metro area so I am assuming that the tribunal will have to sign off on this if in fact it really is a matter of “lack of form.” At any rate, I will be calling Msgr. in the morning.
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Yes, in Detroit this is definitely the case. Blessings!
 
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