Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for your question.

There is no canonical impediment to you marrying some one who has never been married.

I am assuming, of course, the man you are talking about is a Catholic. If he is not, then you'll need a special dispensation to marry someone outside the faith from the local bishop. If that is the case, he would also have to agree to:

• follow the Church's teaching on birth control, and
• agree to having you raise the children up Catholic.

Beyond that, you would need to attend any marriage prep that your diocese requires. This last part is particularly important, seeing as this will be a second attempt for you to receive the Sacrament of Matrimony. You want to be sure that, unlike your first, this marriage is, in fact, going to be sacramentally valid. Having said that, if your future husband is a Catholic and he has not been to Confession since his illicit union that gave him a child, it would be wise that he repent of the sin fornication (sex outside of marriage) so as to be in a state of grace before receiving the Sacrament of Matrimony.

I hope this helps,

John C. DiMascio