Question about annulment and baptizing baby

[mizcap129]

I’m not sure whether or not this is the proper forum for this post, so if it isn’t, I apologize in advance.

I was born and raised Catholic, and have made all the sacraments allowed to me at this point. My husband and I got married in a civil ceremony in April of 2007.

I want to have our marriage convalidated. My husband is okay with this, although he was married before (also in a civil ceremony). When we spoke to our local priest, he gave us the paperwork to begin the annulment of my husband’s first marriage (this marriage is my first). If I remember correctly from what the priest we spoke to told me, if either one of the parties in my husband’s first marriage were Catholic, then the annulment could proceed under the ‘nullity of form’ as opposed to the other form, whose name escapes me at the moment, but it’s the longer, more involved process.

Now here are my questions:

1. My husband is ostensibly Mormon; he converted sometime in his 20s, but does not practice it now. However, he and his family have told me on several occasions that he was baptized Catholic. Both he and I have asked his parents several times for those records, but as of this writing, we haven’t gotten them. They don’t even really remember the name of the church where this baptism was supposed to have taken place, so getting them from there isn’t really an option either (he was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY - my phone bill would run in the hundreds calling each and every church to see if they had them). Since we were told by a deacon that a Mormon baptism isn’t canonically valid from a Catholic point of view, would that mean he would still be considered Catholic in the eyes of the Church? Asking his ex-wife isn’t an option either, since she has tried several times to get back together with my husband, despite her knowing about his remarriage and his requests to her to stop.
2. We were advised by the priest that my husband and I should live as ‘brother and sister’ until the annulment process is complete and we can have the marriage blessed. Well, one day we broke down, and now have a 6 month old daughter. I want her to be baptized Catholic (my husband has no objection to this). Would we have to wait until his marriage is annulled and ours is convalidated to do this, or can I go ahead and make arrangements now?

Thanks in advance.

Christi-Ann

 

[Texas_Roofer]

Back to the Priest you must go, if he believes the baby will be raised catholic he can baptize.

Btw – did you try an email to the diocese for Brooklyn with his name, age, and known addresses? The diocese could email the proper parishes.

 

[mizcap129]

Back to the Priest you must go, if he believes the baby will be raised catholic he can baptize.

Btw – did you try an email to the diocese for Brooklyn with his name, age, and known addresses? The diocese could email the proper parishes.

I wasn’t aware that this kind of thing could be done by email - when I needed to get mine, I had to call the church itself. Then again, my home diocese was way smaller than my husband’s, so there was much less legwork I had to do to get mine. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Ruthie]

Since we were told by a deacon that a Mormon baptism isn’t canonically valid from a Catholic point of view, would that mean he would still be considered Catholic in the eyes of the Church?

Possibly. You would need to ask your priest to ask the Diocese. It *may *be that his Mormon baptism would be evidence of his quitting the Church, in which case you would have to go the usual route.

Asking his ex-wife isn’t an option either, since she has tried several times to get back together with my husband, despite her knowing about his remarriage and his requests to her to stop.

Then (if you can’t get the judgment of “lack of form”) she’ll probably fight the annulment process. Especially if it was a Temple wedding! You need to look for witnesses who knew them both at the time of the wedding, and can testify (on paper, usually).

An annulment is not like a divorce. It is a declaration that that marriage was not one that God put together, and is thus null. That’s why it is what happened before the marriage that is so important. So you both need to understand what goes into a Catholic marriage. For a start, read the Catechism, #1623 - 1654.

If either of them entered that marriage with the idea that marriage didn’t have to be permanent; or that they didn’t want any children; or they were pressured to marry for any reason (including, I would think, the precepts of Mormonism); or they were too immature to consider such things; or one lied to the other about something significant (mental illness, willingness to have children, significant debt), then there may be grounds for nullity.

Even if the fault was your husband’s. But he would have to show that he has changed his mind or grown up, before you can have the marriage convalidated. That’s what happened to me & my “teenage mistake.”

God bless you,

Ruthie

 

[mizcap129]

Possibly. You would need to ask your priest to ask the Diocese. It *may *be that his Mormon baptism would be evidence of his quitting the Church, in which case you would have to go the usual route.

Then (if you can’t get the judgment of “lack of form”) she’ll probably fight the annulment process. Especially if it was a Temple wedding! You need to look for witnesses who knew them both at the time of the wedding, and can testify (on paper, usually).

An annulment is not like a divorce. It is a declaration that that marriage was not one that God put together, and is thus null. That’s why it is what happened before the marriage that is so important. So you both need to understand what goes into a Catholic marriage. For a start, read the Catechism, #1623 - 1654.

If either of them entered that marriage with the idea that marriage didn’t have to be permanent; or that they didn’t want any children; or they were pressured to marry for any reason (including, I would think, the precepts of Mormonism); or they were too immature to consider such things; or one lied to the other about something significant (mental illness, willingness to have children, significant debt), then there may be grounds for nullity.

Even if the fault was your husband’s. But he would have to show that he has changed his mind or grown up, before you can have the marriage convalidated. That’s what happened to me & my “teenage mistake.”

God bless you,

Ruthie

The only reason I asked about the baptism was that we were going to enroll him in RCIA, just to make Pre-Cana easier on him. To be quite honest, I think he became Mormon just for the novelty of it, since it has almost a sci-fi quality to it. He knows almost absolutely nothing about what they practice and why, other than what the missionaries said to reel him in. But I’m getting off the subject…

My husband and his ex were married before a judge, so there was no hint of religion. I’d have to talk to him about the other stuff, since from what I can gather it was a very stormy relationship, and he tends to get riled up when he has to talk about it (which makes me wonder why they even bothered getting married in the first place, but I digress).

Christi-Ann

 

[Joe_Kelley]

You might look into a Pauline or Petrine Privilege if you husband, or his ex, was not baptized.