As we continue our look at the Sacrament of Marriage, this week we will focus on what an Annulment is. An annulment is not “Catholic divorce” as I have heard some people refer to it is. Divorce is a civil reality (as we covered last week). An annulment is simply saying that the marriage itself never took place. An annulment takes a look back at the day of the marriage to examine whether both parties intended what they said. When we take on an annulment case, we are looking for the 4 things that make a marriage. Here is a reminder:
Free - both parties must freely and voluntarily enter into the marriage. In the Catholic Church we do not believe in shotgun weddings. The wedding must be free from any “outside force” that would force the 2 parties to be together. Both must freely choose to enter into the marriage.
Total - that is given over completely to each other. Both sides know everything about the other and nothing is being held back. There is a total gift of self to the other.
Faithful - each party is choosing the other, and no one else. Joe can choose Mary, but not both Mary and Kathy. A marriage is between two people and no more.
Fruitful - openness to life. No barriers being in the way of the procreative act and an openness to receive Children as the gifts that they are.
If one of these 4 things is missing, then the marriage itself never took place. Before we can declare that a marriage was annulled, we must do an investigation into both parties to see where a fault lies. It is important to note that it is not us here at the parish that do all of this, rather the Church as a court called the Tribunal. We send the cases off to the local Tribunal of the Archdiocese for them to investigate, we here at the parish help facilitate by working with our people as the Advocate.
I often get the question “why do I need an annulment?” If you remember back to my very first article I wrote on Marriage, we spoke of this indissoluble bond that is created. Nothing can destroy that bond except for death. Even if one is civilly divorced from someone, we believe that you are still married to that person because of the bond that has been created. Therefore, you are not free to marry another person. Unless an annulment is granted. An annulment is not dissolving the bond, but rather saying that due to one factor or another a bond was never created. If you are civilly divorced and desire to remarry, you will need an annulment before you can remarry in the Church.
In almost all cases, a civil divorce is granted if both parties agree. Not so in the Church. Not every annulment that is filed and investigated is rubber stamped through. If the investigation proves that both parties understood and intended the 4 things, then that marriage is valid, a bond was created, and the only thing that can break that bond is the death of one of the spouses. Therefore, you are still married to that person and are not free to marry someone else.
The other reason that it can be good for an annulment is that it can be very healing. The process, the investigation, the declaration one way or another can give us that great affirmation that the reason that the marriage did not work out was because a bond was never created due to one side or the other or that it was a valid marriage and we should try to work for reunification.
If you have questions about or would like to seek an annulment feel free to reach out to myself or Karl Osman for more information.
In Christ,
Fr. Andrew