Two marriages and second was annulled. Annulment for first marriage required?

[emerald515]

Scenario:

Fiancee (Male): He has been married twice before. First Marriage was in a Christian Church (Non-Catholic). He was married for 10 years and had no children. He divorced civilly. Second marriage was a civil union with a Catholic. He has two children from that marriage. Legally, he was also married 10 years, although the last 3-4 years they lived in the same home, but in separate rooms and lived separate lives. No marital intimacy occurred in that time. He was unbaptized during both marriages.

Now, we have been living together for almost 2 years and will be marrying soon (preferably in the Catholic Church). My fiancee requested and was granted an annulment around Thanksgiving last year. He completed his RCIA this year and received the baptismal :getholy:, reconciliation and communion sacraments .

Myself: I am a Cradle Catholic. I was married for about 5 years to a Catholic and have a daughter from that marriage. I also requested and was granted an annulment around Thanksgiving last year.

Questions:

1) Does he need an annulment for his first marriage even though she was not Catholic and he was unbaptized also a Non-Catholic?

2) If so, would that have made his second marriage automatically null and void?

3) If the second marriage is indeed considered invalid…What does that mean as for the legitimacy of his children?

Basically, our main concern is if we are able to proceed with a Catholic wedding given our current circumstances or is he required to seek another annulment.

Thanks.

AMO

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

1. Does he need an annulment for his first marriage even though she was not Catholic and he was unbaptized also a Non-Catholic?

Yes, he needs an annulment for this marriage. Since neither he nor his spouse were Catholic they were free to marry anywhere they wanted. It is a valid marriage.

1. If so, would that have made his second marriage automatically null and void?

Because he married a Catholic, she was bound by canon law to be married in the Church. So no matter what, this marriage is invalid.

1. If the second marriage is indeed considered invalid…What does that mean as for the legitimacy of his children?

Legitimacy is no longer a concept with any real meaning. The concept is from times gone by when there was no real way to determine/prove who someone’s father was. Thus children born to married couples were always presumed to be the child of the husband, however children born outside of a marriage had no claim to any inheritance or support since there was little way to definitively prove who the father was.
This question has little impact or meaning in today’s world. However, generally speaking, children born of legal marriages are usually considered legitimate.

Basically, our main concern is if we are able to proceed with a Catholic wedding given our current circumstances or is he required to seek another annulment.

My only question would be if he obtained a Pauline Privilege before becoming baptized? If so then he does not need an annulment for his first marriage. However if he did not obtain that before his baptism then he will need an annulment for his first marriage before he can be married in the Church.