RCIA Conundrum in WY

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Call the Catholic Tribunal of your diocese and obtain a copy of the policy. It’s usually part of annulment paperwork instructions. If possible, ask them to send you a letter stating you have no impediments to coming into Full Communion since you are not remarriedo or cohabitating, etc. It sounds like your pastor is having trouble remembering what he learned in Canon Law class or is taking some bad advice from the RCIA coordinator. You might also check with the following at the diocese:

The Director of Catechesis
The Chancellor
The Bishop

You can always seek an annulment after you come into Full Communion. In fact, it might be better to delay this until you know what you plans will be.
 
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The priest has seen a score of people in your shoes, after the Easter Vigil they forget to begin the process.

Next thing, a couple of years have gone by and the convert is engaged and gets mad at the Church because they cannot get married in the Church and they leave the Church over it. This happens so often I could not even count.

Start the process now, demonstrate that you understand that you may never be free to marry again.
 
If it is that black and white, this will be a paperwork process that will take maybe 4 weeks once you gather the necessary info (your first husband’s Baptismal Certificate from his baptismal parish with all of the notes on it, your marriage license, your divorce decree.)
 
KerriHartman said:
… I was married to a non-practicing Catholic man by a justice of the peace. It was his second marriage and never had his first annulled.
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It should be rather easy to have that resolved. The process is typically not the formal one, but a very short 1 or 2 page petition with supporting documents.
 
TheLittleLady said:
The priest has seen a score of people in your shoes, after the Easter Vigil they forget to begin the process.

Next thing, a couple of years have gone by and the convert is engaged and gets mad at the Church because they cannot get married in the Church and they leave the Church over it. This happens so often I could not even count.

Start the process now, demonstrate that you understand that you may never be free to marry again.
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We don’t deal in hypotheticals in situations like this. A person is either eligible to be received into the Church or not eligible.
 
KerriHartman said:
I fully understand the need for nullity. In fact I spoke at great length about this prior to joining RCIA and have studied Canon law. I was married to a non-practicing Catholic man by a justice of the peace. It was his second marriage and never had his first annulled.

Moreover, he divorced me when he fell in love with another woman. He and I have healed to the point of being friends and he has already agreed to do everything necessary for me to be able to join the Church.
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Either of these forms will (most likely) apply to your situation as you just described it.

This would be the most straightforward method:
http://www.dioceseofcheyenne.org/pdfs/tribunal/AbsenceofForm.pdf
With this one, the status of your husband’s first marriage is less relevant.

This would be my second choice:
http://www.dioceseofcheyenne.org/pdfs/tribunal/PriorBond.pdf
I say second because it involves looking into your husband’s first marriage, and that makes things a little more complicated. Unnecessary because the first form should be enough.
 
I’m very sorry for your situation.

Stay faithful though and stick to the Church, who is Jesus’ own Body and immaculate Spouse.

Lord have mercy
 
@FrDavid96
Thank you very much Fr.
 
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From what you have said, it seems like a declaration of nullity for you would be a slam dunk.

Be patient - I’m sure by Easter of 2019 you will be both confirmed and have had your marriage nullified.
 
Spyridon said:
From what you have said, it seems like a declaration of nullity for you would be a slam dunk.

Be patient - I’m sure by Easter of 2019 you will be both confirmed and have had your marriage nullified.
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It should not have to take that long.

We should not delay sacraments for arbitrary reasons; only for canonical ones. If there’s no impediment, then there’s likewise no reason to delay.

Nevertheless, I would most certainly recommend obtaining that declaration of freedom to marry (declaration that the attempt at marriage was null) as soon as possible–and yes, that means before Easter this year.
 
Spyridon said:
I said that as a sort of “worst case wait period.”

If she acts quickly, she should be able to get the annulment and be confirmed this Easter season.
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Yes, but it does bring up the other issue. We should not un-duly delay receiving someone into the Church. Requiring an extra year of candidacy (Easter 2019) just to satisfy a false-value of only receiving candidates at the Easter Vigil is likewise a problem.

There are just too many ways that arbitrary rules and misunderstandings make the RCIA process overly burdensome and in the end treat individuals unfairly. The RCIA statutes clearly say that candidates (already baptized) should not be received at the Easter Vigil—and yet that is exactly what has become the normal practice in most parishes.
 
FrDavid96 said:
but it does bring up the other issue. We should not un-duly delay receiving someone into the Church. Requiring an extra year of candidacy (Easter 2019) just to satisfy a false-value of only receiving candidates at the Easter Vigil is likewise a problem.
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Hey, no argument from me Reverend Father.

I’m all for bringing Roman practice back into alignment with Eastern practice and Chrismating at baptism along with Eucharist.
 
KerriHartman said:
I was married to a non-practicing Catholic man by a justice of the peace. It was his second marriage and never had his first annulled.
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Based on what you’ve said, this should be a very quick and straightforward process, basically paperwork. Ideally it would have been started when you started RCIA and would be finished by now.
 
I was baptized in the Baptist Church, married in a Baptist church, divorced 20 years later. Went through RCIA and came into full communion with the Church last Easter. No annulment required. I haven’t dated and don’t plan on it.
 
I understand why a priest my pressure someone to wait. If they joined knowing there was even a very small possibility that they may one day find themselves faceing an ultimatium; stay with the church or dump a man she loves.

Who knows, perhaps, her ex’s first marriage was invalid meaning that hers was valid…all unlikely, lots of what ifs, but still I still see a good priest trying to councel someone to remove any possible mental impediments like this.

In summary, his reservations seem justified(be glad that you have such a priest), however sounds like you are well on your way to a declaration of nullity and soon to be a fellow Catholic!
 
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I was a divorced woman when I was received into the Catholic church. I was aware of annulments, but no one suggested I get one before starting the journey to be received in the Church.
Wouldn’t you have to be Catholic first to start the annulment application?
I am still single, but after 8 years of being Catholic I did petition for an annulment and it was affirmed. I don’t have a boyfriend or fiancee, but at least the process is over and I know I am free to marry in the Catholic church as long as the other person is.
If I felt that the priest didn’t want me to join because I was divorced, I would have walked away and felt this is not a church I want to belong to.
 
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7_Sorrows said:
Wouldn’t you have to be Catholic first to start the annulment application?
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No. For example, people who are remarried would generally go through the nullity process before they are received into the Church. (The OP being an exception.)
 
hoping4more said:
I understand why a priest my pressure someone to wait. If they joined knowing there was even a very small possibility that they may one day find themselves faceing an ultimatium; stay with the church or dump a man she loves.
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Yes, but…

(First, a tangent: this is why it’s difficult to answer these kinds of questions in a discussion forum. After all, each case has its own set of circumstances, and it’s important to uncover and recognize each of them, inasmuch as even something that’s perceived of as being inconsequential might be critical to the question at hand. Moreover, the info that’s disclosed is quite personal, and we really have no right to ask that it be disclosed for all to read on the forum. Finally, sometimes – out of embarrassment or other reasons – folks don’t disclose all the salient issues. But, with all that being said…)

Back to the issue at hand: in the OP’s case – if it’s nothing more and nothing less than what she said it is, then we’re dealing with a simple ‘lack of form’ case. (Her ex is a Catholic, and they were married outside the form that the Church requires of Catholics for matrimony.)

This means that, even if her ex were free to marry her, the marriage ceremony wouldn’t have met the requirements for validity in the Catholic Church. So, this is a documentary process. Easy peasy.

In other words, it shouldn’t be something that delays reception into the Church, but even if that is the tack her pastor is taking, it should be something easily remedied (presuming that there’s nothing more to the story that hasn’t already been mentioned). The practical upshot is what Fr David said it is: call the diocese. Get this resolved. Come into full communion with the Church. 👍
 
But the Church is NOT saying they don’t want her due to a divorce. Her priest would like her to get her marriage situation clarified. This is the same issue I had. I was never told I had to have an annulment to join the Church, I was urged to do so in order that I come into communion with the Body of Christ as a completely free woman. I knew God was calling me to his Church and who was I to not follow the will of God?

I understand you felt persecuted during the process, but that is your experience only, it is not the experience of the majority.
 
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