My wife (55) and I (64) have been married for the past 20 years. We both were married and divorced before we united, and we now share 5 children, three from my first marriage, one from her first marriage, (four independent adults) and one from our union, still a teenager. We share 4 grandchildren and more are one the way. We are both baptized, we have always lived a Christian lifestyle, we consistently attend Mass and numerous other spiritual gatherings, missions and pilgrimages, and love and cherish our faith, our Saviour and our community. We were originally married by a Protestant minister in a religious ceremony, but as we have grown stronger in our faith in the Catholic church, we wish to re-marry, and humbly renew our vows to conform with the Sacrament. I need to officially convert to Catholicism, which requires me to annul my previous marriage (which, in the eyes of the Church never happened!), and my wife needs to also annul her previous marriage. How should we conduct ourselves (intimately), while this process (estimated to take at least a year) runs its course?
Re-setting a 20 year marriage
- Thread starter Nobozo
- Start date
Until and unless proven otherwise, your respective first marriages are presumed valid. Not clear where you're getting the part about "which, in the eyes of the Church, never happened". Marriages of non-Catholics are normally presumed valid until proven otherwise.
This may be a "hard saying", but you would need to conduct yourselves in a Josephite (celibate) fashion until you have proof that your prior marriages were invalid, and have subsequently regularized your present marriage (if you are not Catholic, you are not bound by canonical form, but you are still bound by prior presumably valid marriages).
Nota bene, a Catholic marriage tribunal can make a decision about any marriage. Strictly speaking, you do not have to be Catholic to pursue a declaration of nullity from the Catholic Church.
Please consult a reliable Catholic priest, who is faithful to the traditional magisterial teaching of the Church, to clarify your own situation further.
This may be a "hard saying", but you would need to conduct yourselves in a Josephite (celibate) fashion until you have proof that your prior marriages were invalid, and have subsequently regularized your present marriage (if you are not Catholic, you are not bound by canonical form, but you are still bound by prior presumably valid marriages).
Nota bene, a Catholic marriage tribunal can make a decision about any marriage. Strictly speaking, you do not have to be Catholic to pursue a declaration of nullity from the Catholic Church.
Please consult a reliable Catholic priest, who is faithful to the traditional magisterial teaching of the Church, to clarify your own situation further.
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