Annulments and Divorce

The Gospel this week is a particularly challenging one. Jesus answers the question of divorce and its morality. He digs in hard with his response, stating that to marry someone with a previous marriage or to marry for a second time yourself is to commit adultery. I will take the opportunity of this Gospel to write on what annulments are and are not in the Catholic Church. It is not the same as a Divorce. This Sunday, we are reading from Mark’s Gospel. When the same conversation is had in Matthew’s Gospel, the qualification “unless the marriage is unlawful” is added:

But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, unless the marriage is unlawful, causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Matthew 5:32

So, what does it mean to call a marriage unlawful? An unlawful marriage occurs when there is something that impedes the free exchange of consent at the moment of pronouncement of the marital vows. A marriage, by definition, must be free, total, faithful, and lifelong. An annulment looks specifically at what was present at the moment of vows, not necessarily at the cause of the relationship's disintegration. To be free, both must be free of coercion, fear, or an outside force compelling them to become married. To be total, both must be willing to give themselves entirely to the other as a self-gift, placing no future stipulations on remaining married. To be faithful, both must intend to be true to each other at the time of the vows, and infidelity later does not necessarily provide grounds for an annulment. To be lifelong, both need to have an understanding, at the time of the vows, that marriage is a permanent institution and is only dissolved by death itself. A previous marriage, which has not been annulled, even of a non-Catholic person being married outside of the Catholic Church, impedes the couple from entering into the Sacrament; a prior union is grounds for an annulment. As Catholics, we are required to follow the form of Marriage according to the Catholic Church; if a baptized Catholic marries outside of the Church, the marriage is unlawful. Lastly, there is a different meaning between the words contract and covenant. A contract is ended when one party breaches the terms of the deal; a covenant is indissoluble and not ended merely because one party does not live up to their end.

Let's begin the annulment process if you are in an irregular marriage. If you are married outside of the Church, have your marriage con-validated. The goal is that we are all in good standing in the Church and pursuing a good and holy sacramental life. All irregularities can be cleared with a bit of work.