Pre-existing addictions & annulment - could my future marriage be invalid?

[TheLittleLady]

Functional alcoholics are all around us, just because an alcoholic holds a good steady job does not mean their addiction is any less.

 

[acanonlawyer]

I know that the priest will ask us about addictions and such.

You have an obligation to be honest with him.

I’m afraid of how the priest will see these things.

Who knows what he will say. These are issues that should be taken seriously by all involved.

I’m worried now because I know pre-existing addictions can invalidate the Sacrament

Well, I suppose you can say that “pre-existing addictions can” make it impossible for a person to consent or can have an impact on a person such that his/her consent is somehow not marital. Yet, it is not a necessary result.

What is the technical line of “here is what makes your marriage invalid” and does it apply here?

As far as a how a marriage can be invalid due to “defective consent”, there are many ways. I could lay them all out but don’t think that would really help. Would any of them apply in your case? I don’t know.

Dan

 

[acanonlawyer]

One of my old friends was a priest on a diocesan marriage tribunal.

He mentioned to me once that in all his years on the tribunal, he never encountered a marriage he was unable to annul.

I am not impressed. Dismayed and disgusted are words that come to mind.

Dan