What do Catholics here think of this?

[alfredo]

bengal_fan:

i would say though, that it is WAAAYYY too easy to get an annulment and the effects are still the same (steps, halfs, joint-custody, child support, etc.). maybe some protestants were the originators but the attitude of many catholics here in america (i don’t suggest this is a worldwide thing) has caused annulments to be something attainable by all. although it is not as easy to get an annulment as it is a divorce, it is still possible for many who do not qualify for one to receive one (IMO).

Correct.
Non Catholic Sheila Kennedy quotes her Catholic husband Joseph Kennedy as saying that the teaching of the Church on annulments is Catholic gobbledegook and that no one actually believes the Church teaching on annulments.
I have seen the figures that in 1930, in the USA, the annulment rate was something like 10 in the whole USA, whereas now it is running at about 40,000 or 50,000 per year, and that of those who apply, the approval rate is roughly ninety percent. So it is ridiculous to blame Protestants for marriage breakups. Catholics can go through the marriage ceremony in a Catholic Church and then fifteen years later, after three or four children, they can decide that they were never really married because fifteen years ago, they really didn’t mean it when they said “I do.” Why was this issue never brought up before? Oh, it really has nothing to do with the fact that Mommy has found a new boyfriend at her local class in Catholic wicca theology.
Although the Church has the teaching of indissolubility of marriage officially on the books, it looks like the Church lawyers have figured out a way to get around this by introducing the idea of easy to obtain annulments. .

 

[puzzleannie]

the question on the original post, which I will not quote because it is too big, blames Protestants for divorce. That is quite a stretch, since it is civil law that grants divorce, not churches. It is also civil law that has been twisted, and the separation of powers between the legislative and judicial branches, that has damaged our constitutional protection of the right to life. If you are referring to America, it is the attack on the constitution that is the root of America’s problems. Artificial contraception was illegal until the 1960s, as was sodomy and most other related perversions of sexuality that damage marriage and family.

If you are questioning whether all, many or some protestant denominations, preachers and/or congregations tolerate, promote and accept the contraceptive mentality and its logical outcomes: divorce, abortion and the debasement of marriage and antipathy toward children that have become the cornerstones of American culture, that is also debatable. You can’t blame the actions of individuals or isolated bodies on an entire group or entity.

Besides, the rates of contraceptive use, divorce, premarital sex, abortions and all other measures of destruction of the family are about the same among professed Catholics as among the general population.

I have been involved in RCIA in one capacity or another for over 15 years in 3 dioceses. The general mentality is that when an annulment is requested it is only a matter of time when it will be granted, because tribunals (in my opinion) have fallen into the trap of accepting the fact that the couples obtained a civil divorce as evidence that the marriage was not founded on a valid basis.