Divorce and re-marriage regulations in the Catholic Church

Friday, May. 23, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY — The discussion of divorce and remarriage in the Catholic Church can be a sensitive issue and misunderstandings can arise of the Church teachings in this area.

Father Langes Silva, judicial vicar and vice-chancellor for the Diocese of Salt Lake City, said that, depending on the circumstances, people who have had a previous marriage may be able to be married in the Catholic Church, but canonical procedure must be followed to dissolve the first marriage (or a number of prior marriages) or declare it invalid.

“It is a myth that no formal annulment is required if a baptized Catholic was not married in a Catholic ceremony,” Fr. Silva said; a declaration of invalidity of a lower degree should be granted by the Diocesan Tribunal. 

Sometimes, rather than the formal process of annulment, people may qualify for another type of administrative procedure such as a decree of lack of form, a Pauline Privilege of the Faith or a declaration of invalidity due to a prior bond (ligamen case) or any other canonical impediment.

In all cases, for a Catholic marriage, when one of the parties belongs to a different faith, a Dispensation of Disparity of Worship must be obtained. 

If the person who was previously married was a baptized Catholic and had only a civil ceremony, he or she can go through a process called “lack of form,” rather than an annulment. He or she first must obtain a “lack of canonical form” decree to verify that the prior marriage meets the proper criteria, demonstrating there was no valid marriage and that neither party is bound to the union. 

Three elements must be demonstrated:

• It must be shown that at least one of the spouses was bound to observe the canonical form at the time of the wedding; this is demonstrated by submitting the baptismal certificate for the Catholic party(s) (it is required that it be an annotated baptismal certificate obtained within the past six months).

• It must be shown that the marriage in question was not celebrated with a dispensation from canonical form by the proper bishop; and

• It must be shown that the original non-Catholic ceremony was not subsequently validated (blessed) in a Catholic ceremony or sanated (corrected) by the proper Church authority.

The formal process of annulment is required if the Catholic party was married in the Church or the non-baptized Catholics were married in their own churches or in civil celebrations. However, “when the non-Catholic party decides to become Catholic, in some circumstances we can apply to Pauline Privilege of the Faith if the person has never been baptized,” said Fr. Silva.

A Pauline Privilege is the dissolution of a non-sacramental marriage contracted between two non-baptized persons, one of whom later became a Catholic.

The Pauline Privilege also could be used to dissolve a marriage of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because the Catholic Church does not recognize the Mormon baptism. 

Fr. Silva said that there are a series of reasons, called “canonical grounds” to get an annulment in the Catholic Church. 

“The most common grounds used in the cultural reality of the United States is the ‘lack of due discretion,’ which is a term to refer to immaturity in one spouse or both spouses,” he said. “When one or both of the parties were very young at the time of their marriage, or  when they were very dependent on the parents, or when one of them was expecting a child, are some examples, among other factors, of what could be considered as immaturity.”

Other grounds are when one or both parties were affected by a psychological illness such as schizophrenia at the time of marriage that resulted in the incapacity to assume and fulfill the obligations of marriage.

“If they can prove that they were affected by those at the time of the marriage, [through] witnesses and declarations and a psychological assessment, that might be grounds for an annulment,” Fr. Silva said.

The Judicial Tribunal has experts who make those evaluations. They are “not a heavy psychological testing; it is more like a pastoral counseling; people shouldn’t be scared of these,” Fr. Silva said.

The Diocese of Salt Lake City processes about 150 requests for nullity of marriage every year; “of those, at least 100 obtain a decree of invalidity [annulment],” Fr. Silva said.

As with any couple considering marrying in the Catholic Church, those with previous marriages should approach their pastors first, who can assist the applicants as canonical advocates in the preparation of their cases and in the procedures through the Diocesan Tribunal, Fr. Silva said.  

“Also we work very closely with the permanent deacons,” he said. “They are married men, some of them have gone through a process of annulment, others have professional degrees and they have dealt with people in medical or psychological cases, so they are able to explain the process to the couples.”

The process to enter a Catholic marriage after a divorce is based on judicial and pastoral processes, “so people should know that they are based on helping people,” Fr. Silva said.

For more information visit http://www.dioslc.org/ministries/tribunal.