Advertisement

Annulments No Longer a Rarity for Catholics

Share
From Religion News Service

After his divorce--and before he remarried--Joseph DeCastra of Hoover, Ala., applied to the Roman Catholic Church for an annulment, and got it in less than a year.

His was one of more than 59,000 annulments granted in the United States--and 76,829 worldwide--in 1992, reflecting a stark contrast to the early 1960s, when Catholic marriage tribunals considered about 300 applications for annulment in this country each year, according to the 1966 Catholic Almanac.

“The church has gone through a transformation,” DeCastra said. For him, annulment meant he could remarry in the church after his divorce.

Advertisement

For years, most Catholics who got divorces were stigmatized and unable to remarry. But divorced Catholics who follow church procedures regarding the dissolution of a marriage can be embraced as full participants by the church, rather than shunned or marginalized.

Roman Catholics through the years have suffered much confusion over annulment--the process of having church officials declare a marriage sacramentally invalid.

Annulment does not mean that a couple were never married--the civil recognition of the marriage still stands. And children born during a marriage that was later annulled are not considered illegitimate. But getting an annulment does allow a Catholic to remarry in a church ceremony.

Sister Marilyn Vassallo and Sister Lynn McKenzie work at the marriage tribunal for the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham. Since last fall they have been traveling from church to church, holding workshops to explain the process of annulment to Catholics and non-Catholics as well.

Sister Lynn, a University of Alabama Law School graduate and partner in a Cullman, Ala., law firm, serves as defender of the bond of marriage for the tribunal. “I represent the church,” she said. “I’m actually standing for the church’s position for defending the sacredness of marriage.”

Annulment cases generally include testimony by witnesses--including ex-spouses--either in person or through written statements. Ex-spouses are allowed to defend themselves from accusations that they were irresponsible or had traits that made them too immature to have gotten married when they did--both conditions that would allow a marriage to be annulled.

Advertisement

Tribunal judges examine the emotional state of the couple at the time of the marriage and make a determination of whether they should have been allowed to marry, or whether they were ready to marry. Personality tests are a standard requirement of the annulment process today.

“We use modern psychology now to look at the person’s understanding of what marriage is and their ability to fulfill the obligations of marriage,” Sister Lynn said.

The Second Vatican Council in 1962-65 set in motion changes in the annulment process that made it easier to get an annulment.

“In the past, there were a lot of bad feelings,” said Sister Marilyn, an associate judge for the marriage tribunal of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham. “It was not a positive experience.”

By granting annulments more liberally, the church hoped to restore more Catholics to full participation in the church. “We’re trying to bring people back into the fold,” Sister Lynn said.

Now, most applications for annulment are granted.

In 1993, the most recent year for which U.S. statistics are available, American Catholics were granted 53,652 annulments, the majority of the 70,478 granted in the world. However, that was down from a peak of 63,933 annulments in this country in 1991.

Advertisement

Pope John Paul II has at times expressed concern about the large number of annulments granted in the United States and urged more caution in the process of declaring church marriages sacramentally invalid.

But proponents of annulments say they are not just a legalistic hurdle, but an important liturgical element of the church in restoring divorced people.

“Ultimately, it’s between self and God,” said Maureen Kison, who was granted an annulment five years ago. “I want to be a total participant in my faith.”

The annulment, which she applied for three years after she was divorced in a civil procedure, was a “healing process,” she said.

But she advised recently divorced Catholics to apply for an annulment soon, rather than waiting until they meet someone and start thinking about having a church wedding. The process can take more than a year--in her case, it took two years.

Shara Falkner, who was divorced after 22 years and sought an annulment, waited 18 months for her annulment to come through in 1993. She said she was disappointed by the legalism of the process and the “harsh, cold letter” that brought her the news that the annulment had been granted.

Advertisement

But she said it brought her a sense of redemption with the church and closure with her divorce. “I no longer had to wear a big ‘D’ [divorce] on my back,” she said. “Now I’m a single person.”

Advertisement