Okay, so my boyfriend has been married before. He is ';not'; catholic. But I was told you are not allowed to marry in a catholic church if one was divorced. I need this to be clarified. What would you have to do in order to get married in a catholic church if your partner has already been married before? Divorce and Marriage in the Catholic Church ?
1) The Catholic Church recognizes the marriages of non-Catholics as valid unless proven invalid (like innocent until proven guilty in a court of law).
2) The Catholic Church does not believe the government has the power to dissolve a marriage (';let no man put asunder';), so as far as the Church is concerned, your boyfriend is still married to his wife.
3) For you to marry your boyfriend in the Catholic Church, it needs to be demonstrated that he is, in fact, NOT married to his wife (only one living spouse per customer, please). Your boyfriend needs to ask the Catholic Church to examine his marriage to see if it is valid or invalid.Divorce and Marriage in the Catholic Church ?
From my understanding, the church does not recognize marriage vows taken under another religion (i.e. Baptist, Scientology, etc) so if he was married under one of those religions, then the marriage is null and void in the eyes of the church.
If he was married in the Catholic church the only way to be remarried in a catholic church is to get an annulment. You can only get an annulment if the marriage ';qualifies'; for one by falling under certain specifications. Some of the most common are incest, polygamy, duress, fraud, etc.
From my knowledge, you cannot divorce if married in the Catholic church and get remarried there.
Even though your boyfriend is not Catholic and was not married in a Catholic Church, he would have to receive a Decree of Nullity for his first marriage in order for you to marry him either in the Catholic Church or in any other church. You won't get dispensation to marry him unless that marriage is declared null.
Make an appointment with your priest (boyfriend, too), so that your boyfriend can start the annulment process. It may be fast and cheap if he got married in a courthouse. It may be longer and more involved if any sort of investigation has to be done (hiring people to do interviews, etc., costs money, of course). Your priest will be able to give you an assessment of a time frame and expense.
Good luck!
If he wasn't originally married in a Catholic Church, the Church doesn't recognize that he was married at all, so it shouldn't be a problem.
If his previous marriage was in a Catholic Church, performed by a Catholic priest, then yes -- that would be a problem.
But if he wasn't, then his 1st marriage wouldn't be recognized anyway.
Your boyfriends previous marriage in the eyes of the Catholic church is ';valid';, but not a sacrament. He will need to approach the Marriage Tribunal of your Diocese to request an annulment, since it was within a different church it will not be necessary to require showing that a sacrament did not occur. A sacrament defined by the Catholic church is two people who are equally yoked, both having been baptized in the Holy Trinity.
This isn't a question of 'what would you do', but 'what do you do' to resolve this to the satisfaction of you and I'm presuming future husband. The annulment process for him willl not be legenthy, it will require a response from the ex-spouse.
After the annulment is completed he in the eyes of the Church (and also God) has never been married; and is truly single and can marry without reservation to you (some exceptions please consult your priest or the diocese for further explanation). However, it would be best after all that he is going through that you very seriously consider that HE become Catholic, and as always if you do marry in the Church and he is not Catholic--he must agree and abide by the Laws of the Church that any and all offspring be raised in the Catholic faith, no if, ands, or buts there.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches, pertaining to divorce:
2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:
If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another's husband to herself.
2385 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.
2400 Adultery, divorce, polygamy, and free union are grave offenses against the dignity of marriage.
1650 Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ - ';Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery'; the Church maintains that a new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was. If the divorced are remarried civilly, they find themselves in a situation that objectively contravenes God's law. Consequently, they cannot receive Eucharistic communion as long as this situation persists. For the same reason, they cannot exercise certain ecclesial responsibilities. Reconciliation through the sacrament of Penance can be granted only to those who have repented for having violated the sign of the covenant and of fidelity to Christ, and who are committed to living in complete continence.
There's more but YA doesn't allow for much more space.
All previous marriages, civil or religious, have to be dealt with before someone can be married in the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church believes that God does not recognize civil divorces.
Jesus said, ';Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.'; (Mark 10:9)
However there may be hope of a declaration of nullity.
The term ';annulment'; is a misnomer because the Church does not undo or erase a marriage bond.
Rather the Church issues a declaration of nullity when it discovers that the parties were not truly joined by God and hence a full spiritual sacramental marriage as understood by the Church was not present.
Then the parties are free to marry for the first time.
Approach the appropriate person your in your parish who has been trained in the process. If you encounter difficulties, you may go directly to the diocese.
Be prayerful, honest and patient. It takes a while.
With love in Christ.
He will have to go through the church's annulment process (a very intense and often embarrassing - but confidential - process)...that's what they have to do if they are Catholics at least...not sure how it works if they aren't Catholic...you will also have to take pre-marital classes together now before a priest will marry you...
If he's Not Catholic, they don't even recognize the marriage. I'm an Ex-Catholic. Most times the priest will not marry you, and the children are not recognized as Catholic. If you marry someone that is Catholic any other marriage is not considered.
You should talk to the priest. If there were real reasons for getting the divorce, then the priests sometimes grant second marriages.
If he wasn't married there, it shouldn't matter though.
Are you Catholic? Then you will know that a 6 month preparation is ahead of you. Oh ya and no sex until you get married.
annulment
Ms. Meg M told you the exact same thing the priest told me when I petitioned for a decree of nullity. She got it right.
lie
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