Need advice...

[PDXSeeker_1975]

Hi, I have been considering the Church for a while. I am a longtime Protestant, baptized. Currently, I am not in any church and not living a Christian life. I am divorced, mostly due to my lack of commitment to our relationship and to God. However, while I still was with God, I found myself examining the claims of the Catholic Church, mostly trying to refute points a Catholic friend of mine had been making. When I found myself drawn toward the Church, it did not help my relationship with my wife or my family (all devoted Christians) . After the marriage ended almost 2 years ago, I decided I was done with religion altogether. However, I have found the old questions arising again. She has remarried since then. I have no plans to marry again at this point, and dont know about the future. I guess my question is, what would the Church’s position be on my situation if I did choose to re-marry after converting? I know it is probably not a black and white answer, just would appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut some of you might have. Thank you.

 

[Snowball]

You could re-marry after converting, although you would have to have the Church annul your former marriage, which your priest would help you with that.

 

[Tietjen]

Hi, I have been considering the Church for a while. I am a longtime Protestant, baptized. Currently, I am not in any church and not living a Christian life. I am divorced, mostly due to my lack of commitment to our relationship and to God. However, while I still was with God, I found myself examining the claims of the Catholic Church, mostly trying to refute points a Catholic friend of mine had been making. When I found myself drawn toward the Church, it did not help my relationship with my wife or my family (all devoted Christians) . After the marriage ended almost 2 years ago, I decided I was done with religion altogether. However, I have found the old questions arising again. She has remarried since then. I have no plans to marry again at this point, and dont know about the future. I guess my question is, what would the Church’s position be on my situation if I did choose to re-marry after converting? I know it is probably not a black and white answer, just would appreciate any (name removed by moderator)ut some of you might have. Thank you.

First, welcome to the forums!

Next, I am glad that you decided to look further into Catholicism and did not decide to be “done with religion.” I have found in my life that when things are really going badly, that is when I need God the most. I, like you, have gone through a divorce (wife’s decision, not mine) and if it had not been for our Lord and the Church, I doubt that I would have made it through with my sanity.

Finally, as to your question concerning the Church’s position on you remarrying if you were to become Catholic… you really need to speak to a Priest about your specific circumstances. Don’t let this stop you from looking into Catholicism however. God bless.

 

[po18guy]

Welcome! Please PM any of us with questions, or just post them. For questions relating to divorce, please go to “Ask an Apologist” and post there. You will receive an authoritative reply. As to Catholicism, you can surf around the various threads and find basically every answer you could ever hope for. Also, you might want to read some of the library materials at Catholic Answers main site. And, as always, we are here to help you with prayer, advice and whatever else you may need. We will be overjoyed to lead you home.

Christ’s peace.

 

[kettle]

When I found myself drawn toward the Church, it did not help my relationship with my wife or my family (all devoted Christians)

I just wanted to clarify, just in case there was any confusion… Catholics are Christians. God bless you on your journey.

 

[CatholicCajun]

I just wanted to clarify, just in case there was any confusion… Catholics are Christians. God bless you on your journey.

Your reply reminds me of a bumper sticker my husband and I spotted while driving in New Orleans one day,
I read: “Catholics love Jesus, too!!” Would have loved to get one of those, but never saw them.

 

[mom2three]

Your reply reminds me of a bumper sticker my husband and I spotted while driving in New Orleans one day,
I read: “Catholics love Jesus, too!!” Would have loved to get one of those, but never saw them.

You could probably find something like this on cafepress.com. If not, you can make your own there!

 

[panoikei]

You could re-marry after converting, although you would have to have the Church annul your former marriage, which your priest would help you with that.

Thanks for the help. It may help the OP to understand that he would not have the Church annul his marriage, but rather he’d seek to have the first marriage investigated to see if it were a marriage at all. It if is determined that a marriage did not in fact exist, then a “enter term here?” of nullity would be issued to him and his former wife. It’s just a matter of wording, but maybe that conveys the process a little better.

If I were you, I make an appointment with a local priest to get the paper work started. Even if you’re not Catholic I believe you can have it done. Note the commitment though. I just read a case on the “Coming Home Network” where the couple agree to live as brother and sister and to even go as far as separate once they received word that the annulment was not favorable. It’s rather difficult, but from what I hear it will be a wonderful learning process. My father and mother were divorced and dad received a positive result for the annulment. He lived single the rest of his life.