I divorced and want to re-marry in the Catholic Church. Do I need an annulment. 1st wedding was secular.?

Question

I was never married in the Catholic Church and my first wife was not Catholic.

What type of documentation would I need. The ex lives out of state and would be difficult to track down. Would she have to be involved?

Answer 1

Yes, you still need a declarations of nullity (see below). A secular marriage and a non-Catholic spouse will make one easier to grant.

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)

However there may be hope of a declarations of nullity.

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

Rather the Church issues a declaration 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.

Then the parties are free to marry for the first time.

Approach the appropriate person your in your parish who has been trained in the process. If you encounter difficulties, you may go directly to the diocese.

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

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Yes, even though your first marriage was not in the church you will need an annulment. The Catholic church does not recognize divorce, so in their eyes they still see you as married. Your priest can assist you in filing for an annulment. It just involves writing a letter to the Bishop. It used to be difficult to get one but now they are a little more liberal. It is easier if you and your ex did not have children together, or one of you in unable to have children, or if she is not a Catholic and you want to have children with your new wife and raise them Catholic. Good luck!!

Edit: Since your first wife was not Catholic, just write in your letter that you and your new wife plan to raise children in the church. Or if thats not true and you don't want to lie, just tell him that your faith is important to you and your ex did not share your beliefs.

Edit 2: To answer your question. Because its not a legal annulment, your ex usually doesn't have to get involved. In my Dioceses they never contact the ex, but in some they might just call to verify some of the information in the letter. They may call her just to make sure she isn't Catholic. But, she doesn't have to sign anything or assist you in any way. If you don't know where she is, you can just tell them that and they will typically take your word for it. It's really an easier process then most people think. You'll probably need your divorce decree.

Answer 3

The character who used to be divorced need to have that marriage annulled by way of the Catholic Church earlier than she or he can marry a Catholic within the Catholic Church. This is the case even supposing the divorced character bought married in yet another Christian Church due to the fact that the Cathol8ic Church considers marriages in all Christian church buildings to be legitimate. The non-Catholic does now not ought to convert to Catholicism. He or she simplest guarantees to enable the Catholic to preserve practising his or her religion and to enable the kids to be raised within the Catholic religion.

Answer 4

o.k. one of you need to be a member of a catholic church first. and yes you need to have the marriage 'annulled' in a way, not in the legal way that most people think, but annulled by the church, i am not really sure what it really means, but you have to show you have reason to have it in a catholic church and you will need to ask permission of the arch-dioceses and the arch-bishop for the church to marry you and a non-catholic (this should not be a problem) Your best bet is to have a meeting with your priest.