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I have been a practicing Christian in a large
non-denominational church for thirteen years.
I have felt drawn to the Catholic Church for
some time. I have been married for 26 years
to a wonderful Catholic man but his first
wife, at a very young age, left him for another
man. Due to lack of support at the time, he
believed he was excommunicated and never returned to the Church.
Prior to my turn around at the age of 36,
I lived a very confused and sin-filled life.
Part of my past included a marriage at a very
young age which ended, after about a year,
in divorce. I was far too emotionally immature to commit
to marriage at that time.
It sounds as though this might meet the
requirements for an annulment in the Catholic
Church, however, I was wondering if an
annulment would even be required to enter
the Church?
Honestly, the consideration of the cost right
now is a huge issue. If this is indeed the
way the Lord is leading me, I do not want
this to be a hindrance.
Thank you,
Valerie
{
Is an annulment required if I made a young marriage mistake but now want to join the Church? }
Mike
replied:
Hi, Valerie —
Thanks for the question.
I agree with your conclusion. Most
likely the Church would want to review
both you and your husband's previous
marriages.
If there was some impediment to
the consent of either party to both
your previous marriages, there is
probably grounds for an annulment
although we are not competent enough
to make any assessment of this. We
would recommend you and your husband,
if he is willing, make an appointment
with the pastor or priest at a local
Catholic parish to talk about the
issues involved.
In a previous answer my colleague Eric had the following dialogue with a
questioner:
Questioner:
. . . She is also having trouble
understanding why it cost so much to get an annulment
in the Catholic Church, and why money should
be involved.
Eric:
Well, many dioceses do annulments for free, or
provide help for those who have trouble affording
them. That being said, there are a lot of professionals
involved in the annulment process and they need
to be paid. Some of them even have families to
feed. The annulment process is a legal one and
costs the diocese a lot of money (think of how
much money lawyers cost — an annulment involves
several canon lawyers).
Consider, for example, the cost of a divorce in
legal fees. The fees for an annulment, when required,
don't even begin to cover its cost.
Dioceses can't always afford to cover the full
cost of annulments themselves, and so sometimes
they charge a fee. Rest assured, this is not by
any means a source of profit for the diocese!
If it is a financial burden, I urge you to talk
to the tribunal about it to see what they can do.
The point is not to put a burden on the petitioner
but to have them make a contribution, even if it
is small, to what is a very expensive process.
Eric
Either way, Valerie, I wouldn't let
anything related to the cost of an annulment get in the way of taking a deeper
look into the Church and her Teachings.
If you wish to go deeper, consider buying a cheap copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to learn everything we believe as Catholics.
Hope this helps,
Mike
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