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Annette —
I can understand your dismay. You
deserved a bit more explanation than
you perhaps received.
Your husband's prior marriage is
presumed to be valid. A courthouse
marriage is not valid for a Catholic,
but it is valid for others so the
Church needs to see if there is any
reason why the marriage might not
be valid. For instance:
- the concept of marriage might
be defective
- one of them might have had a
faulty intention regarding:
- children or
- the permanency of marriage
or
- one of them might have lacked
full consent or discretion
This can be caused by pressure, fear,
pregnancy, age, mental or emotional
problems — or one of them might
have been deceptive in a serious
matter (alcoholism, prior unions,
occupation, etc.)
If your husband loves you, he will
want you to be at peace in your conscience
and will want you to be able to receive
Holy Communion. (Something you cannot
do as long as you are having intercourse
with someone, presumably married
to someone else.)
Mary Ann
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