The Catholic Church beliefs?????

Question

My exhusband is getting married in the catholic church and has requested me help in getting the church to recognize our divorce so that they can annull (sp) it themselves before they will marry him to his fiance. I haven't talked to him in 5 years and am a christian, but don't believe in the catholic religion of men running the church instead of Christ running the church. Can someone tell me why the church needs to annull our divorce and what it entails. I don't want to deny my ex husband his happiness, but since I don't condone the Catholic religion, I am hesitant to help....

Answer 1

Catholicism...doesn't recognize divorce, therefore, they do an annulment to be able to re-marry. If you had children during that union; they will be considered born out of wed-lock if you get an annulment.

You owe your ex nothing, so the decision is yours.

Grace to you and God Bless!

P.S. Suzany13, Christ brought us Christianity, not the Catholic Church, thank you very much! (Otherwise it would by Judaism).

Answer 2

--Is Catholic--

Does it really matter what you believe about the Catholic Church for you to go through the annulment process? It should not and you should not worry because the Marriage Tribunal is not going to ask you to become Catholic or even like the Catholic Church.

Basically what needs to be found out, is if the marriage was sacramental.

Right now ask yourself this question: When you married your husband, did you wish that marriage to be a permanent union with no possibility for divorce, a union that would last until one of you died? OR Was your wish that the marriage would last as long as it worked out and if it stopped working you would get a divorce? If it was the latter, why fight the annulment process, as the process will only say what you believe?

Now if it was the former, do you wish that you were still married? If you do, then fight the annulment. I think you do not wish to be married anymore, so why fight the annulment?

I think that if you think about it, the whole process is meaningless to you and that your only real fear is that the Church would rule about the sacramentality of the marriage. Now if the Church is false as you say, then why do you fear? You fear because you recognize the authority that the Church has. You do not legitimize the authority of the Church by doing the annulment process, you only legitimize it by believing it and submitting to its findings. It is your ex husband that wishes to submit to the findings of the Church, not you. If you fight the whole thing, then you do care what the Church thinks.

So if you do not believe in what the Catholic Faith says, go in to the Marriage Tribunal, speak your truth, and walk out continuing to believe what you wish to believe. There is not one instance in the whole process where you have to believe what the Church says.


--
Side note: Just so you get it right: From Catholic Theology, it is the Holy Spirit that "runs" the Church, not Christ. The Church acts as Christ in the world by doing the will of the Father, the activity of which is accomplished by the Holy Spirit.

Answer 3

Jesus forbids divorce and remarriage. However, both Peter and Paul grant exceptions to this. The early church had to ask "what is marriage?" For example, is a shot gun wedding valid? What intent must be present?

Being very technical, the church cannot annul a marriage rather what it does is recognize the marriage was hopelessly defective from the beginning. What God does, God does and the Church has no power to annul God's activities. Nonetheless, some marriages really are doomed from the start. In essence, the parties blocked God's ability to act. The Church will not grant a decree of nullity for a marriage that just went wrong. It's position is that Christ's love requires all of us not only to make up but to continue to pray for reconcilliation. A decree of nullity simply says that no one can place scandal upon the new marriage because the first marriage could not survive. The participants did not do something at the time that was important for the survival of the marriage at or before its beginning.

It sounds to me that you are, to use Paul's words, unevenly yoked. He may have legitimate grounds for divorce and remarriage.

What it entails to you? You will be sent papers and asked to tell only the truth.

Answer 4

The Catholic Church believes that God does not recognize civil divorces.

"Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." (Mark 10:9)

The term "annulment" is a misnomer because the Church does not undo or erase a marriage bond.

Rather the Church issues declarations 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.

Be prayerful, honest and patient. It takes a while.

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

Why would you be adverse to helping? It will mean no harm nor anything to you. The Church just takes a look at your lives and marriage and decides whether the marriage was what we call a Sacramental marriage. This type of marriage means it can not be broken by divorce. An annullment doesn't make children illegitamate contrary to many peoples opinions. As you are not Catholic it should not matter to you one way or the other what the Church says and decides so why not be charitable and help him out?

Answer 6

From the beginning, the historic church has always upheld Christ's teaching that marriage is permanent and indisoluble. This stance hasn't changed in 2000 years. It is only those churches which were established in recent times by men with agendas who differ.

The church has always taught that a VALID, consumated marriage cannot be undone. However, she alone was given the authority by Christ (anything you bind on earth will be bound in heaven) to determine the VALIDITY of a marriage. For a marriage to be valid, several chriteria must be met; for instance, free consent of both parties is a requirement. If someone is forced to marry against their will, or if they are mentally incompetent to make a free choice, the marriage would not be valid.

This is not the same as divorce. No marriage is being undone. What one asks the church is for her to make a declaration on whether the marriage was valid from the beginning.

http://www.catholic.com/library/Permanence_of_Matrimony.asp

Answer 7

I'm surprised no one has gotten to the core of annulment. When you marry through the church you are not just legally married, but married "under the eyes of God." A divorce means you are no longer LEGALLY married while annulment takes care of your bond religiously. So. If you and your ex divorced, he HAS to have an anullment to marry under the church, otherwise he'll be commiting adultry under the Cathlic faith's beliefs. As to your hesitation to help, you are both legally divorced, why not do it religiously also so he can marry again?

Answer 8

Hmmm,

If you don't want to deny his happiness, I would go along with it. The Catholic Church is quite similar to many Protestant groups.

I think most likely it will be for you just to fill out a form, by doing so you are not obligated to join the Catholic Church, just allowing him to follow his spiritual path.

I used to be a Protestant and just converted myself after many years of contemplation. I can tell you that Catholics and the Catholic Church is not as bad as you may have heard.

It sounds like you have no kids together, so that should not be an issue.

It is a sign that you are a good Christian that you do not hold a grudge against him, my advise is to find your happiness and let him find his.

If you want to know more about what he is looking to Join, there is a great web-site about Catholics in the reference box below.

Answer 9

UGH, don't get me started on annullment. My parents were married over 20 years by the Catholic Church, and my dead-beat father paid a nice sum of money to them in order to have the marriage annulled. I was 13 at the time -- and the Church gave my mom this lame story that the marriage "never existed" in the eyes of the Church or God, however, the kids would be recognized as legit. WTF is up with that? I am in my 30's now and still am turned off by the Church and its love of money.

The annullment entails you sitting down with a priest, psychiatrist, etc.. asking you all sorts of stupid questions about your childhood, life, marriage, what caused it to fail etc...

If you don't want to do it, you don't have to.

Answer 10

What God has joined together let no man put asunder. I don't think it gets any plainer than that! Annulment means there never was a marriage in the first place. This happens only under certain circumstances and must be investigated by the Church.