[joyful]

i am a catholic who was never married before and I would like to get married in the catholic church. my fiance was married once before in a civil ceremony and has been divorced several years. he (and his ex-wife) were baptized christians --presbyterian rather than catholic--but they never had their marriage blessed by any church. he does not intend to convert to catholicism. will he need an annulment in order to marry me in the catholic church? i have gotten different answers to this question and would apreciate advice before we meet with our priest next month.

thanks very much.

[Frieda Arpoika]

Since non-Catholics are not bound by Catholic canon law's requirement to marry in a church, therefore his marriage is considered valid and requires an annulment. If it was his ex-wife's 2nd marriage there could possibly be another route to achieve a declaration of nullity, but often the regular annulment application is an easier process than proofing that she was married previously and that her previous ex is still living and therefore making her marriage to your fiance invalid. Either way, there needs to be an application for nullity of the previous marriage.

[joyful]

thank you! to answer yr question: both he and his ex-wife have been married only once.

it was my understanding that the catholic church would not recognize a civil marriage by non-catholics and that therefore no application for annulment would be required. now it seems we will need to postpone our wedding and pursue an annulment.

thanks again for clarifying this matter with your reply.