Non-Catholic Annulment QUESTION from Chris on November 11, 2001 My fiancée and I are planning to marry in the Catholic Church. She is Catholic and I am not. My father who is an ordained Methodist minister previously married me to a non-Catholic in a Methodist Church. I was baptized in the Episcopal Church. I have been divorced for six years. My fiancée and I recently relocated five hours drive from where the church and the priest with whom the wedding is to take place. Do I need to have the previous marriage annulled even though it did not take place within the Catholic church and neither myself or my ex-wife are Catholic?
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on February 8, 2002 Dear Mr. Chris:
Yes. If you were both baptized Christians then the marriage is assumed valid and a determination of nullity is needed before your fiancée can marry you.
Talk to your priest about this. It can take up to a year to get through the process, so begin now.
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