[quote]That makes complete sense. But what 25 was saying was that her brother and his wife never got their outside the church marriages annulled before being married in the catholic church.
[b]The priors M's were NOT annulled but were to non Catholics and a Muslim. But the bishop approved their Catholic marriages, in the Church, with a full mass and communion, and the whole 9 yards. When I got married to my h 29 yrs ago, he was an Orthodox (Eastern Catholic) and MY priest, rigid jerk that he could be, did NOT want the Orthodox guests to get communion b/c he thought there'd be "awkwardness"???? ALTHOUGH THEY have the same sacraments!! In hindsight I wish I'd spoken up more OR found my childhood priest but he had retired by then...sure left a bad taste and was a horrible start off in the Church for my h. But that's the reason all this is confusing.
I suggest we have real experts stop by, or at least quote them exactly. Better yet perhaps, we keep it to ourselves and each chooses. I only take part in these discussions to ask about the kids or to raise an issue when someone makes a black and white statement. Pigskin, on one hand I may MAY think you don't qualify for what I think annulments mean, but no matter. B/C I swear to you, given what you went thru and the efforts you put forth, I am soooo convinced in my heart of hearts that God wants you to be with a woman who loves you, so if you are "only divorced" just don't feel shame about it. God knows your heart. I can be Catholic and feel that in some cases when someone divorces you (and SOMETIMES I read the bishops latest comments at their conferences & wonder if they may be leaning this way too)
But say you have no choice, and YOU tried to save the M and didn't file or didn't do anything but your best, and you have witnesses,(like annulments require) then I think that's probably why some of these bishops say, "What the heck? They want to stay in our church, let them..."
Do YOU Pigskin, believe God wants you to have become the man and husband you are now, only to be alone the rest of your life? Let's say your wife becomes a satan worshipper (Just an analogy) THEN do you have to stay single? Oh, she wasn't a satan worshipper at the time of the M so let's say you don't get an annulment b/c you don't qualify, you think God wants you to stay m in your mind, while she divorces you, remarries and condemns all that you ever stood for? Really?
Guess I'm a New Testament kind of Christian. I think Jesus came in part to let us know we were off track, what with "eye for an eye" and all. And he said "love is the greatest of these" and so, must you live without love the rest of your life b/c the woman you once loved no longer exists? I am asking. For I see you sometimes like a widower....make sense? He's a loving forgiving God. I simply believe he does not want YOU to be alone. Some men and women need to learn how to be alone but you are not one of them imho. FYI--please others, I am not interested in scriptural quotes now. This is pigskin's thread.(Kevin, canon law has only 1 "n".[/b] CanNons shoot things. Canons are rules or laws....a spelling error that always catches my eye...)
I had always believed that if you married outside the church, it was not recognized, so divorces in those cases don't need annulments.
(K-Later you say that annulments ARE needed for the prior marriages....ANYHOW....Maybe in the past they were or NOT or maybe they are not needed now. SEE ABOVE---
Augustine was big on the sacraments and their role in our well being. The theory in part, was that M was a sacrament with a mass, eucharist, etc, IN the Church. Sacraments mean the presence of God is felt/manifest. Ergo, a wedding not held in the church could not be a sacrament & had no validity and therefore either was easy to annul OR needed no annulment.
Kind of like Henry VIII before he decided to be his own Pope. Lots of nobles had "secret marriages" which were not marriages at all, or they WERE but they were ended when the real ROYAL wife came along.....SO This is the source of some confusion. The other bigger issue for me is that the Church is trying its' hardest to be more welcoming and open and forgiving without being trendy. There is some discretion or we would have no argument here. Like the legal system as Pigskin says, there are times when one can get a different result in a different place/person with the same facts. It's the "beauty/curse" of having a system run by flawed humans- but its sometimes not best conducted by a robot or computer. Sometimes a bit of judgement or discretion and prayer is exactly what's needed b/c the same surface facts may not have the same "truth" to them....anyhow, back to Pigskin's thread... (( j )0
M: 57 H: 60 M: 35 yrs S30,D28,D19 H off to Alaska 2006 Recon 7/07- 8/08 *2016* X = "ALASKA 2.0" GROUND HOG DAY I File D 10/16 OW DIV 2/26/2018 X marries OW 5/2016
