Married or Not?

[adelore]

Sometimes the marriage issue can be very confusing…to a lot of people. Myself for one.

Growing up Catholic I was taught, any Catholic who got married outside of the Catholic Church, (at another church, or courthouse marriage) that marriage would not be a “valid” marriage to the Catholic Church. So therefore in the “eyes” of the Catholic Church the couple would not be married. Pretty Simple to understand right?

Then I was taught, that if such a couple got a “Civil Divorce” and one or both of them wanted to get Re-married, that they could do so in good standing, as in the “eyes” of the Catholic Church, neither party were in a “valid marriage” to begin with…so they were free to re-marry. And even to get married in the Catholic Church was ok.

My understanding of these thoughts have been also the understanding of many before me…like my 82 year old Dad, other family memebers, and even a few Priest have been consulted. All with the same understanding.

Since being on this Catholic Forum, I now learn that even if a marriage was “Outside” the Catholic Church, it is still required to get an Anulment From the Catholic Church. This makes no sense to me, snice the “Out of the Catholic Church” marriage was not reconigezed by the Catholic Church to begin with, as it was called Not Valid.

Many people on here have asked questions about a Marriage they are living in, “Outside of the Catholic Church” They are given the advice to “live as brother and sister” until their marriage can be made a “Valid” marriage in the Catholic Churchs eyes. Yet, if this same couple were to get Divorced, then an Annulment is called for. This makes no sense, if the Catholic Church doesn’t see them as married in the first place.

I’m not posting all of this in no way to Knock or go against the Catholic Church…but truely this makes no sense to me. Even I as a Catholic don’t understand all of this.

 

[that_name]

The marriage tribunal does many things.

It reviews marriages that are presumed valid to see if they actually are. Then, it issues a Decree of Nullity (for some reason people call this an annulment when that is a very misleading error of words).

They also process paperwork that must be done when a Catholic marries outside the Church - that is called a defect of form.

Maybe you could call the diocese, and do a bit of a field trip to visit someone on the tribunal, learn all of the things these people do for the good of Christians!

 

[cameron_lansing]

A marriage “outside the Church” does not require a decree of nullity per se.

A decree of nullity is what a judge (or judges) of a tribunal issues after a judicial process (an ordinary contentious process of the nullity of marriage) in a sentence.

Actually, the pre nuptial investigation is sufficient to establish that such a marriage “outside the Church” is not valid. In the case of a total lack of form, the marriage does not enjoy the favor of law and hence the presumption of validity mentioned in canon 1060. So it would not be subject to a nullity case before a tribunal as a rule.

Instead, the pre nuptial investigation of canon 1066-1067 would suffice to establish that the parties did not assume the bond of marriage and would be free to marry.

This was established according to an authentic interpretation of canon 1686 (Pontifical Commission on the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law, cf. AAS, LXXVI, 1984, 746-747).

As canon 1066 says, “Before marriage is celebrated, it must be evident that nothing stands in the way of its valid and licit celebration.”

However, for the sake of clarity, diocesan bishops often have the tribunal or another curial office establish that one or both parties were bound to the Catholic form of marriage and did not observe it.

This is an administrative action rather than a true judicial process. Although a decree is issued and the marriage is noted as null as a point of fact, it is not “an annulment” in the proper sense of that notion.

A little confusing from the outside, but the distinction of the type of process is important.

 

[milkbar]

Many people on here have asked questions about a Marriage they are living in, “Outside of the Catholic Church” They are given the advice to “live as brother and sister” until their marriage can be made a “Valid” marriage in the Catholic Churchs eyes. Yet, if this same couple were to get Divorced, then an Annulment is called for. This makes no sense, if the Catholic Church doesn’t see them as married in the first place.

I doubt people are told that unless they make it clear that they have been married before.

 

[adelore]

I doubt people are told that unless they make it clear that they have been married before.

You can read many “Past Threads” on this topic, even if two people (at least one of them Catholic) have not been married before and this is their first marriage for both. Unless they are married in the Catholic Church, or have permission from the Church to have the marriage performed outside the Catholic Church, they are Not living in a Valid Marriage according to the Catholic Church. There fore they should “live” like “brother and sister” until their marriage is “blessed” or becomes “valid” by the Catholic Church.

 

[puzzleannie]

Since being on this Catholic Forum, I now learn that even if a marriage was “Outside” the Catholic Church, it is still required to get an Anulment From the Catholic Church. This makes no sense to me, snice the “Out of the Catholic Church” marriage was not reconigezed by the Catholic Church to begin with, as it was called Not Valid.

.

if this is your understanding you have not read these threads properly, please go over them again. What a Catholic needs, whose marriage has irretrievably broken down, to the point where a civil divorce was obtained, is to consult a priest about his personal situation as each marriage is unique, so that the Church can determine if his first marriage was valid. No, a Catholic who married without following canon law is probably not validly marriage, and that is established through a simplified, mostly paperwork, process that establishes the marriage was invalid due to lack of form. He does not require a full annulment investigation, so I don’t know where you read that, but he does need to establish the facts before he attempts to marry again.