RCIA questions

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I am intersted in becoming Catholic and I have a couple of questions. I just got married to a Catholic but I was married once before and got a divorce. I am wondering if being divorced will prevent me from becoming Catholic. And I am also wondering if the RICA program only starts at certian times of the year? Thanks for reading and hopefully responding!
 
You should call your priest and discuss this with him, he will let you know exactly what would need to be done regarding the divorice, and if an annulment would be necessary.

Our RCIA class started in September, it concludes with Holy Saturday where we are all received into the church and have baptism/first communion and confirmation. We did have several people join late, they were not turned away.

the process takes a long time because they really do a thorough job of teaching you about all aspects of the faith. I have learned sooo much through this process, I really am thankful they have this class. But I urge you to contact your parish
 
The answer your question depends on whether or not your first mariage was annulled. If it wasn’t annulled then I am not even sure how you were able to marry a Catholic unless you guys married outside of the Church. Also, if your first marriage was not annulled you would not permitted to receive the Sacraments of the Church until an annulment was granted.

If however you have already obtained an annulment and you guys married in the Church (which is a requirement for all baptised Catholics), then there would be no reason you couldn’t become a Catholic in full communion.

If you guys were married outside of the Catholic Church then neither of you are permitted to receive the Sacraments until the matter of both marriages is settled.

Sorry that I cannot be more precise but there is not really enough information to give you a certain response. If you do not mind sharing tell me if your first marriage was annulled and whether or not you married in the Catholic Church the second time.
 
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looking4answers:
I am intersted in becoming Catholic and I have a couple of questions. I just got married to a Catholic but I was married once before and got a divorce. I am wondering if being divorced will prevent me from becoming Catholic. And I am also wondering if the RICA program only starts at certian times of the year? Thanks for reading and hopefully responding!
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RCIA is a supposed to be a year round process. A person who is already Baptized becomes a Candidate after a period of Inquiry and the Rite of Welcome. The process can take anywhere from a few months to up to a year, each individual is different. The Rite of Reception into full communion does not have to be at the Easter Vigil.(actually it should not be at the Vigil if that is possible)

If you attended the necessary Marriage preparation process. Your prior marriage should have been investigated and I assume would have been declared Null. Or you would not have been able to enter into Marriage with a Catholic.
 
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martino:
If you guys were married outside of the Catholic Church then neither of you should] receive the Sacraments until the matter of both marriages is settled.
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This is true.
Br. Rich SFO:
If you attended the necessary Marriage preparation process. Your prior marriage should have been investigated and I assume would have been declared Null. Or you would not have been able to enter into Marriage with a Catholic.
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This is what bothers me. The annulment process is usually complex enough that a petitioner or respondent would certainly remember it. You would already know if your previous marriage has been annulled by the Catholic Church.

If you were married by a Roman Catholic priest, he would have done his homework. So I suppose your marriage to a Catholic was not done in the Roman Catholic Church. If it was done in the Catholic Church, perhaps the Priest was unaware of your previous marriage.

You both need to make an appointment for a counseling session with your Catholic Priest. Do it right away. Don’t put it off. And your current spouse should stop receiving sacraments (unless a dire emergency arises) until you can meet with your Catholic Priest. But do keep going to Mass on Sundays.

Whatever the actual circumstances are, your Priest will be much better able to help you than this forum. And you will have much more certainty that you both are being helped. At a minimum, in such a meeting you can express your interest in becoming Catholic. As long as you are alive, I suppose there is no situation that would really prevent you from becoming a Catholic.
 
Very interesting discussion. We really do not have enough to go on at this point. As the others said, a lot depends upon your marriage status. While you are working on that, there are many good books,videos,Etc. that you can get that will help you in your knowledge of the church. Scott Hahn’s are very good, since he himself is a convert.

I pray that all will be resolved for you and that you will someday enter the church,
Deacon Tony
 
I can tell you my experience because, just from the basic information it sounds very similar to mine.

I wanted to join the Catholic Church. My husband was a cradle Catholic, not a strictly practising Catholic, and we were “married” outside the Church. I was married before and had received a civil divorce. My first husband was not Catholic. The first night of RCIA, our two priest were there and one of the items was on annulment. I made an appointment and then went to discuss it with one of the priest. The annulment process can be very long and complex, so the sooner you get started the better. It took me ten months to receive my annulment, all the while I attended Mass (could not participate in the Eurcharist) and RCIA (Our children were baptised during this time). I was not able to fully participate in the Easter Vigil when the rest of the RCIA was received into the Church. When my annulment was declared, my husband and I were married in a very short ceremony prior to Mass. During Mass I was received into the Church, and afterwards we had a great big celebration, complete with tears and hugs.

Annulments use to take years, but now only take a matter of months, usually ten, and that is when you stay on top of it, the previous spouse is willing. Some people I knew, they were trying for years to get an annulment mainly because their previous spouse would cause trouble. I was really surprise my ex agreed and see it as a true miracle.
 
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