Divorce, Annulment and Remarriage

Sisters and brothers, the other day when we were talking about marriage, this wonderful sacrament, we have to recognize it in our society, in our lives, sometimes we find that marriages end in divorce, and that's a reality that the Church does understand. So it raises the question, if we're intended to have one marriage for our lives, and it's a sacramental marriage in that sense, then how do we deal with divorce and remarriage?

The Church pathway for us to deal with divorce goes to the fact of—is a marriage sacramental in the first place. And so the process of an annulment is the Church's way of approaching the question of: is the marriage sacramental?

By sacramental, we mean did the couple have the opportunity to commit to a lifelong marriage? Was there something in their lives that limited their ability to commit? Was there a psychological or a social or a developmental reason that they were limited in their ability to commit?

There are a number of things that can contribute to whether a marriage is sacramental or not based on the annulment process.

It's a very formal process, and usually there are parishioners who are trained, or deacons or priests to assist couples who have divorced, determining whether their marriage indeed was sacramental. If the marriage is judged not to have been sacramental, then the couple can be declared free to remarry.  So remarriage in the Church—the primary pathway—is through the annulment process.

The challenge for many people is they feel like the annulment process may be invasive and somehow challenges them to go back and look at their lives. And oftentimes, their very painful hurts. It is very helpful, a very prayerful process, to have someone journey with you to help prepare the documentation in order to pursue an annulment.

One thing in an annulment—there is a court, but you never appear before the court. The court works all through paperwork. It's called the tribunal. It's the diocesan or the Church court that judges issues of Church law, and marriage falls under Canon Law—Church law.

We have to pursue the legal avenues, as it were, within Canon Law in order to have a marriage declared null. Not every marriage is declared null. Sometimes they are, and sometimes they're not.

You know, the challenge is sometimes people fall out of love and later in their life they decide to divorce. The reality is, in some of those cases, there was a sacramental marriage. And it can't be annulled. So it's a process that calls for prayer and trust and faith and good guidance and counsel.

The great news is that in those cases where there is an annulment, there is that second opportunity for the single sacramental marriage. And it opens case after case, family after family, person after person to an opportunity to enjoy a new life of love and that great, wonderful bliss of a true and joyous sacramental marriage.

Sisters and brothers, would that every marriage could survive and be healthy. Where it's not, may we have the opportunity to have good and faithful servants to help us in this process so that lives indeed can be renewed.

Reflection Questions:

1. How does understanding the sacramentality of marriage shape the way I view commitment and love?
   
   

2. In what ways can the Church's annulment process be a path to healing rather than hurt?
   
   

3. Who in my life might need support or guidance as they walk through the challenges of divorce and remarriage?