Is formal annullment needed???

[bowhunter 0]

Ok, here is the situation - to which I've already now heard several conflicting opinions. Evelyn, my fiance', is still in the Philippines, and very much Catholic. Which I think is great, although I am not Catholic. Naturally, she wants a church wedding in Phils, with family and friends. Sounds wonderful to me. But, I am divorced (here in US) 6 years now. Both my exwife, and myself were raised Catholic, but do not consider ourselves Catholic now or when we married, and were not married in the Catholic Church or by a Priest. My question is, do I need to obtain an annullment from the Catholic Church for my previous marriage before the Catholic Church in Phils will marry us? My Catholic friends here in the states say yes, and they also say this is a nightmare of a process. Thanks for any help.

[gwenneh 7]

Technically, yes. You'll get a different answer depending on what the diocese interprets as following canon law, though, so the only person who can answer this is the priest that will marry you.

[Richard&Maria 0]

Ok, here is the situation - to which I've already now heard several conflicting opinions. Evelyn, my fiance', is still in the Philippines, and very much Catholic. Which I think is great, although I am not Catholic. Naturally, she wants a church wedding in Phils, with family and friends. Sounds wonderful to me. But, I am divorced (here in US) 6 years now. Both my exwife, and myself were raised Catholic, but do not consider ourselves Catholic now or when we married, and were not married in the Catholic Church or by a Priest. My question is, do I need to obtain an annullment from the Catholic Church for my previous marriage before the Catholic Church in Phils will marry us? My Catholic friends here in the states say yes, and they also say this is a nightmare of a process. Thanks for any help.

If you have been married in a Catholic Church, then you need to get a church annulment, in addition to the civl annulment granted by the courts. The petition for nullity of marriage in the Catholic Church normally takes years to get to final approval as there is a series of affidavits, hearings, and witnesses to present.

But if you were not married in a Catholic Church and you Filipina fiancee has never been married in a Catholic Church, then there should be no impediment to a Catholic Church wedding.

Hope to have been of help.

Maria

[ChristinaM 0]

Just as an observation: you have filed for a K1 visa, according to your profile. I assume that you're planning this wedding in the Philippines after your fiancee has come to the US, you've got married, and she has either AP or the green card? If not, you're filing for the wrong kind of visa.

My apologies if you've heard that before, but I'd hate to see Evelyn turned away at the POE for already being married on a K1...

I have no useful information about the Catholic church, sorry!

[bowhunter 0]

Maria, we are the second situation . . . I was not married in a Catholic Church and my Filipina fiancee has never been married. Your response is exactly opposite of what I've been told by US Catholics. Maybe this is regional??? I guess next step is check with a priest in Phils . . . or is that where your info comes from?

CM . . . current plan is for Evelyn to come here on the K-1, get married probably in a simple civil ceremony just to get 'er done. Then go back to Phils sometime later for the Church wedding with her family and friends.

[heishe 2]

Can you just not tell the church people there? How would they know?

Maria, we are the second situation . . . I was not married in a Catholic Church and my Filipina fiancee has never been married. Your response is exactly opposite of what I've been told by US Catholics. Maybe this is regional??? I guess next step is check with a priest in Phils . . . or is that where your info comes from?

CM . . . current plan is for Evelyn to come here on the K-1, get married probably in a simple civil ceremony just to get 'er done. Then go back to Phils sometime later for the Church wedding with her family and friends.

[ChristinaM 0]

Maria, we are the second situation . . . I was not married in a Catholic Church and my Filipina fiancee has never been married. Your response is exactly opposite of what I've been told by US Catholics. Maybe this is regional??? I guess next step is check with a priest in Phils . . . or is that where your info comes from?

CM . . . current plan is for Evelyn to come here on the K-1, get married probably in a simple civil ceremony just to get 'er done. Then go back to Phils sometime later for the Church wedding with her family and friends.

That's just what I wanted to hear!

Good for you for knowing the rules.

[Carlawarla 1]

I think I posted to something of this nature last week, but maybe it wasn't you? Anyway, if you never got married in the Catholic Church the first time, you don't need an annulment or anything. The Church won't recognize your first marriage if it was civil. If it wasn't you that posted this question earlier, something you will have to consider is that if you do get married in the Catholic Church this time, you'll have to be taking classes. Being a Catholic already, you might just need some refreshers hehe Or even a Marriage Encounter weekend. (I think in Canada, they're actually 3 weekends in total.) Anyway, might nix some plans for a wedding within 90 days if you haven't done this already. I have a friend who got an annulment many years ago, and it took 2 years to get it, and countless monies and "investigations". I lived half the country away from her, and they sent someone out to interview me (and recorded same on a cassette), about the marriage, my impressions etc. She had to provide "witnesses" and I was one.

Good luck in whatever your choose!

Carla

[I'm Gone 60]

Knowing the Philippines, a sizeable "donation" to the priest and I'm sure you will be OK. LOL

[gugu24 0]

(i am gugu's USC fiance) my mother is a very devoted catholic and her and my father were married in a catholic church. they got divorced but many years later when my mother became a strict catholic she went for an annulment. An annulment is for the church to decide whether their marriage will be teminated in the church's eyes(or accepted by God in other words) In order for her to ever remarry in the church she needed to have this done. It did take her quite awhile to get the annulment granted. If you are NOT married in a catholic church then you DO NOT need to get an annulment for that divorce since the church would not have accepted it as a binding marriage under God. However what the OP said about taking classes that may be required depending on the church. usully if both parties are not regular attendies at the church you are marrying in. Last i knew it was only 3 classes.

Edited September 2, 2006 by gugu24

[Richard&Maria 0]

A further complication to consider. The Catholic Church DOES recognize certain marriages done in other faiths. I know this because my ex-wife was Lutheran (she was previously married, also to a Richard, so for many years I went by the sometime-handle of "Richard the II") and many years ago she went through the annulment procedure of the Catholic church before we were married. The stateside annulment procedure back then took a few months. My Maria says it is more complicated in the Philippines, where the line between church (read that as Catholic) and state is fuzzy, if not actually tangled. Needless to say, my upcoming marriage will need to be a civil one.

Richard of Richard&Maria

[sparkofcreation 0]

I have a friend whose mother is Jewish and was married quite young by a rabbi, and when she divorced, also got a rabbinical annulment.

When she met my friend's father, who is (or was) Catholic, the Catholic church refused to recognize her annulment ... which meant they didn't recognize she'd been married (since it wasn't a Catholic wedding) but did recognize her divorce, but didn't recognize her annulment. She had to get a Catholic annulment. Despite the fact that as far as the Church was concerned, the marriage never really happened.

So, whether you were married in the Catholic church or not, yes, you need a Catholic annulment. Or at least you did in 1977. I suppose things may have changed by now.

[*Robert* 2]

Knowing the Philippines, a sizeable "donation" to the priest and I'm sure you will be OK. LOL