This is an honest question. A friend of mine got divorced. They had one child. They had the marriage annulled (which means in the church that it never happened). Does that mean that their child is illegitimate? Why or why not?
2006-12-01 10:28:22 · 15 answers · asked by shermynewstart 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
In the Catholic church when you have the annulment the children from that marriage are not recognized. It is like they were never born as like the marriage that it never happened.
2006-12-01 10:31:33 · answer #1 · answered by natmys333 4 · 1⤊ 4⤋
No, the child is not illegitimate as the couple was legally the married. An annulment means that the sacrament of marriage did not actually occur. Usually the rationale is that one or both of the partners either did not enter into the sacramental bound with full honesty, or after the marriage something came up that clashes with Catholic belief and was the cause for the divorce.
Another way of looking at this would be to look at a couple who got married in front of a justice of the peace, had a child, and then decided they wanted to have their marriage blessed by the church. The child was born outside of the sacrament of marriage, but would not be considered illegitimate.
2006-12-01 18:33:58 · answer #2 · answered by Church Music Girl 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Catholic Church (Canon) Law states if a declarations of nullity is granted then any children are considered legitimate and retain all legal rights.
In legalese: Canon 1137 The children conceived or born of a valid or putative marriage are legitimate.
The Catholic Church believes that God does not recognize civil divorces.
Jesus said, "Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." (Mark 10:9)
However there may be hope of a declaration 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.
The procedure is the same whether or not there are children in the marriage.
With love in Christ.
2006-12-01 21:08:40 · answer #3 · answered by imacatholic2 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The annulment of a Sacramental Marriage DOES mean that the Sacrament never happened....but the child is not illegitimate. Only if the child was born OUT of wedlock does the church say that the child is illegitimate.
Take my word for it...or check the Code of Canon Law: Canon 1137 of the Code of Canon Law specifically affirms the legitimacy of children born in both recognized and putative marriages (those later declared null).
2006-12-01 18:35:22 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Legitimacy of children is totally a matter of civil law, not church law. An annulment has no effect on that whatsoever. The references to "legally married" in previous answers are mistaken. An annulment does not mean the couple was not LEGALLY married. It means their marriage was not recognized as a sacrament of the Catholic church. Two totally different things.
2006-12-01 18:34:19 · answer #5 · answered by MOM KNOWS EVERYTHING 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course not. When the church annulls something it means it disolved the marriage with God's approval is all. They were married when they had the child and that will always be. The fact that it is annulled means that there was good enough reason in the Church's eyes to get divorced so you wont get kicked out and will be allowed to get married in the Catholic Church again is all. Of course I personally think its all silly , but that is just me.
2006-12-01 18:33:00 · answer #6 · answered by dee 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Annulment differs from divorce where the court ends an otherwise legal marriage on a specific date.
In strict legal terminology, annulment refers only to making a voidable marriage null; if the marriage is void ab initio, then it is automatically null, although a legal declaration of nullity is required to establish this. The process of obtaining such a declaration is similar to the annulment process.
2006-12-01 18:34:17 · answer #7 · answered by St. Mike 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The legitimacy of children is not an issue in the Catholic church. I guess technically they would be illegitimate, since it is as if the marriage never happened, but it doesn't affect them in any way.
2006-12-01 18:37:25 · answer #8 · answered by Smiley 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I am not Catholic but this one confuses me ..
i wasnt aware you could get a marriage annulled after a set period of time , by which they would have went passed if a child had been born im sure .... very strange
unless there had been some illegal issues with the marriage in the first place
technically yes the child would be classed as illegitimate i would guess , if by law they were never legally married
2006-12-01 18:31:33 · answer #9 · answered by Peace 7 · 0⤊ 4⤋
The church states that the legitimacy or ill-legitimacy is not really an issue in the church. It's hard to have an annulment with a kid in the picture anyway.
2006-12-01 18:31:02 · answer #10 · answered by papadego 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋