Divorce and Annulment
RCIA
September 17, 2015
What’s the Big Deal?
Matthew 19: 3-9
Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his
wife for any cause whatever?"
He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male
and female and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human
being must separate."
They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of
divorce and dismiss (her)?"
He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your
wives, but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another
commits adultery.”
Marriage has two aspects:
Religious
Civil (Legal)
An annulment is a process internal to the Catholic Church
It has no bearing on the civil or legal aspects of a marriage or
divorce
The children produced by a marriage that is subsequently
declared invalid are still legitimate offspring of the marriage
Determinations by the court are still recognized and in force:
Alimony, Child support, custody, etc
Canon Law
Though the process of annulment has no impact on the legal system
outside the Church, the Church has its on set of laws referred to as Canon
Law.
To be a Catholic one must obey the laws of the Church.
There are many laws that must be obeyed for a marriage to be considered valid in
the Church
An annulment (Declaration of Nullity/Invalidity) is not a Catholic
divorce
When a marriage is considered null/invalid the Church is
essentially stating that conditions existed at the moment vows
were exchanged rendering the marriage invalid.
Declaration of Nullity or Invalidity
• Not based on events that occur following vows
being exchanged
• Based on conditions that existed before the
couple said “I Do”
• Decided by the Diocesan Tribunal in Savannah
Based on testimony of the petitioner, respondent and
witnesses.
• Every marriage is presumed by Canon law to be valid and
binding. Therefore, compelling proof of invalidity must be
presented by the petitioner to the tribunal. It is essential to
have knowledgeable witnesses who will corroborate your
story.
• Tribunal process is an impartial search for the truth on the
part of the Church.
Conditions for a Valid Marriage
1.
2.
3.
The consent of the bride and groom (free without coercion or other factors)
Legitimately manifested (following the proper form as outlined by the Church)
By those qualified according to the law (No impediments)
If any of these are defective, a marriage was not brought
about
Defects in these three conditions require different types of cases
1. Defective consent cases (Formal Case)
2. Lack or defect of form cases
3. Impediment cases
Defective Consent (Formal Case)
The Church holds the exchange of consent between the spouses to be the
indispensable element that makes the marriage. If consent is lacking there
is no marriage.
Consent is an internal commitment that is outwardly expressed –
“I take you…”
Consent must be an act of the free will of each of the contracting parties,
free of coercion or grave external fear
The ability to validly consent requires that one has a minimal amount of:
Maturity (Psychological stability)
Knowledge
Intention
Freedom
Lack or Defect of Form
• At least one party must be Catholic
• Proper form must be followed
Priest or Deacon and two witnesses in a Catholic
Church
• Marriage outside the Church can occur with
dispensation granted by Bishop
• Marriage not subsequently convalidated in Catholic
Church
Impediments to a Valid Marriage
Divine or Natural Law (may not be dispensed)
• Certain degrees of consanguinity (NL)
• Impotence to have intercourse (not sterility) (NL)
• Prior valid marriages (DL)
Church Law
• Marriage between Catholic and non-Catholic without dispensation
• Holy Orders
• Public perpetual vow of chastity
• Abduction for purposes of contracting marriage
• Conspiracy or Murder for sake of marriage
• Affinity (in-law relationships)
• Age
Other impediments
Fraud – person fraudulently misrepresents them self in order to marry
Error concerning the unity, indissolubility or
sacramental dignity of matrimony – marries believing
that divorce is an option if the marriage fails; not open to children
Conditional – I will marry you depending on…
Due to force or fear- “Shotgun wedding”
Interfaith union (Disparity of Cult)
Ligamen
Prior bond
The Catholic Church teaches that in order to be free to enter into marriage a person may
not have an obstacle (impediment) which prevents that person from entering into a
valid marriage. One such impediment is a prior bond (Previous valid marriage).
Joe wants to marry Susie in the Catholic Church
However, Joe had previously been married to Donna. A valid marriage that would require
an annulment . Joe could not marry Susie due to his prior bond to Donna
The Ligamen enters in if Donna had been validly married prior to her marriage to Joe.
This prior bond makes the marriage of Joe and Donna invalid so he is free to marry Susie
“Clear as mud…right?”
Pauline Privilege
Two non-baptized persons marry.
One chooses to become baptized.
The two cannot live in harmony and are divorced.
The marriage can be dissolved when the baptized person
marries another baptized person.
• The purpose of this presentation is not to make you experts on the
process of annulment but to emphasize the complexity of the process.
• If you are presently in an invalid marriage this has to be resolved before
you can enter the Church
• It does not matter if your previous spouse was not Catholic. The Church
views ALL marriages as valid and as stated before compelling evidence
must be presented for the marriage to be declared invalid
• This process takes time. Depending on the type of case presented it may
take over a year for the Tribunal to come to a decision.
• Therefore, it is urgent that we start immediately on the paperwork and get
this submitted ASAP. I will be glad to meet with you or you can contact a
priest or another deacon. Meeting with clergy will help you to focus on the
details that need to be presented to the Tribunal and determine the type
case to be presented.