marriage QUESTION from Anthony R. December 19, 2000 Dear brother John,
My girlfriend is a hindu. She has been married to a hindu and is divorced. I am a catholic and was never married. Now we want to marry. Is it possible without an annulment because of the problems her family has with marrying a catholic and therefor the problem of having any witnesses. After her divorce she did'nt have any contact with her husband anymore because of there problems in there marriage. She does'nt have any children.
Thanks for answering my question and all the good work,
Yous sincerely, Anthony
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, O.L.S.M. on Sunday, March 4, 2001 Dear Mr. Anthony:
You need to check with the Marriage Tribunal at the chancery of your diocese to be sure, but I believe that since your wife is Hindu and was married to a Hindu, her marriage would not have been a valid sacramental marriage on its face and thus an annulment is not needed.
But if is was needed, the fact that her family would not cooperate does not prevent the Church from determining an annulment.
One more thing, the Church discourages marrying a non-Catholic, let alone a non-Christian. Unless your girlfriend is planning to convert to Catholicism BEFORE you marry, you will have to get permission from you bishop to marry her.
Back to Index Page