Lapsed Catholic and Marriage

[SpiritMeadow]

I’m sorry if this is the wrong forum. I tried “ask an apologist” and both my questions were apparently discarded. So I’ll try them here. My poor neighbor is not feeling very secure given that I told here I would get an immediate answer here, and so have received zero…lol…here they are:

1. My neighbor is a lapsed Catholic of some 10 years. Other than a confession, does she need to anything else to return to the full grace of the Church?
2. During her 10 year lapse, she married. She had never been married before. Her husband had and was divorced. He was not and is not Catholic. Is her marriage valid in the eyes of the Church such that she can partake fully in it? (Communion specifically).

I am rather embarassed to not know the answer to these questions, at least not enough to answer her definitively. I’ve told her to talk to Father,or i will on her bahalf but she seems quite reluctant until she knows what she is facing. It should be noted that this is a small town, and I think she may be concerned about gossip.

 

[ljprevo]

That depends on #2.

1. Did her husband get and annullment from his 1st marriage, is he baptised Christian, and were they married in the Catholic Church?

If their marriage is valid then she can goto confession and come home. If the marriage is not, that has to be made right before she can goto communion, however she can start going to church, not being able to recieve communion does not stop the living of a Catholic life. While she gets her marriage validity sorted out, I would highly recommend her to get back to church and pray.