One or two annulments needed?

[Wesrock]

A friend was married to a lady who converted from being Catholic to being Baptist before they married. They were married in the Baptist church.
then divorced.
then married again in the Baptist church.
then divorced.
Now he is dating a Catholic.

Will he need two annulments, or just one annulment for the first marriage?

Both marriages need to be reviewed. I’d start with the first one. It’s possible the first one could be a very quick case due to the wife having been Catholic at one point (though no guarantees, it depends on the specifics). If the first marriage is found to be invalid, then the second marriage will need to be reviewed.

 

[1ke]

Interesting.
So does “it” refer to when the person left the catholic church or to when they married?

Honestly, I cannot imagine in my wildest dreams that the first spouse would have actually formally defected. It’s extremely rare. It requires that the person send a letter to their bishop and that the bishop actually accepts the defection. If the marriage occurred between 1983 and 2010, it was a possibility for a Catholic who had formally defected to validly marry outside Catholic form. This is so rare, I suggest you not get sidetracked by this. It’s not relevant to 99.999999999…% of cases.

I thought the sacrament of confirmation would have some bearing. ?

I’m not sure what you are referring to. If the person was baptized Catholic, they are Catholic. Confirmation completes baptism, but even without it, the person is a Catholic and bound by canon law.

 

[Gorgias]

Actually, there is.

Good catch! My recollection was that it wasn’t defined until after it was no longer possible to claim it.