Hi, guys —

I'm hoping someone can answer a couple of questions for me.

My husband and I have been together ten years and married for eight of those years. We have both been previously married. My husband's first wife died, though they were already divorced when she passed away. I was married and divorced my husband on the grounds of unreasonable behavior as he was violent towards me and was a alcoholic.

Four years ago we adopted our beautiful daughter. As a family we regularly attend our local Catholic Church and have asked if we can have our daughter baptized but as she is now 7 years old, our priest has said that we have to wait until she is 13 when she can make her own decision, as she has special educational needs.

We have also asked that my husband and I be baptized but our priest has said to do this my marriage would need to be annulled. This is something I cannot contemplate as my ex- has made threats towards my family in the past and any sort of contact with him may trigger things off again.

• Is there anything we can do or say which may make our priest reconsider?
  

Any help and suggestions would be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Heather