Marriage Sacrament & Annulment Annulment: There Never Was A MarriageThe Roman Catholic Church professes the absolute indissolubility of marriage based on the Bible. The Church has also taken on herself to decide if and when marriage occurs. This process is called annulment. Annulments are not ecclesiastical divorcesInternet Question BoxAnswer by James Akin Annulments in AmericaBy Edward Peters.Each annulment represents, without hyperbole, a personal human tragedy, and usually two or more human tragedies. Ne temereCongregation of the CouncilDecree on Betrothal and Marriage from the Sacred Congregation of the Council, issued by the order and authority of Pope Pius X. Contains certain revisions of the Church laws governing betrothal and marriage, which were subsequently included in the 1917 Code of Canon Law. Latin title Dialogue: Annulment vs. DivorceWritten by Dave Armstrong and his anonymous opponents in 1997The following two exchanges were with Orthodox and Baptist friends of mine. The End of the Annulment ExplosionBy Clarence J. HettingerIf practically anyone can get an annulment it becomes logical to deduce that everyone has the right to get one. How many annulments are there today?Internet Question BoxAnswer by James Akin How Can Marriage Be Declared NullBy Rev. Fr. Michael Smith Foster, J.C.D.Associate Judicial Vicar of the Archdiocese of Boston In Truth and LovePennsylvania Bishops ConferencePastoral Letter released July 29, 1994 Addresses the use of the so-called 'internal forum solution' for cases of divorced and remarried persons who are personally convinced that their previous marriage was invalid is unacceptable, unnecessary and pastorally unsound. Nullity of MarriageBy F. J. SheedThe book's purpose is to show the Church's law of Nullity as it is-a strong and clearly-defined system, wonderfully reasoned and consistent with itself. Of Human LifeBy Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFMA pastoral letter to the people of God of northern Colorado on the truth and meaning of married love. This pastoral letter, dated 22 July 1998, comes on the 30th anniversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical Of Human Life (Humanae Vitae) ArcanumPope Leo XIIIOn Christian MarriagePope Leo XIII says there would be a calm and quiet constancy in marriage if married people would gather strength and life from the virtue of religion alone;... for religion would enable them to bear tranquilly and even gladly the trials of their state. The Pope discusses the ends of marriage and the great evil of divorce. Promulgated on February 10, 1893. Magnae NobisPope Benedict XIVOn Marriage ImpedimentsEncyclical 29 June 29 1748. Condemns marriages of Catholics with heretics. Dum MultaPope Leo XIIIOn Marriage Legislation Promulgated on December 24, 1902. What are some examples of situations in which a marriage can be annulled?Internet Question Box Answer by James Akin Why is the Catholic Church so hung up about annulments? Internet Question Box Answer by James Akin Follow the Way of LoveNational Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic ConferenceA Pastoral Message of the U.S. Catholic Bishops to Families On the Occasion of the United Nations 1994 International Year of the Family Divorce & RemarriageCatholic AnswersWhen Jesus came, he elevated matrimony to the same status it had originally possessed between Adam and Eve-the status of a sacrament. Thus any valid marriage between two baptized people is a sacramental marriage and cannot be dissolved. He therefore taught that if anyone so married divorces and remarries, that person is living in perpetual adultery, a state of mortal sin. Birth ControlCatholic AnswersHistorically, Christians always condemned contraceptive sex. Both forms mentioned in the Bible, coitus interruptus and sterilization, are condemned (Gen. 38:9-10, Deut. 23:1). The early Fathers recognized the natural law purpose of sexual intercourse is procreation, meaning contraceptive sex, which deliberately blocks its natural purpose, is a violation of natural law. Quas VestroPope Gregory XVIOn Mixed Marriages Encyclical of 20 Apr 1841. Gregory writes to the prelates of Hungary condemning mixed marriages and encouraging them to eradicate this evil. Summo Iugiter StudioPope Gregory XVIOn Mixed MarriagesEncyclical of 27 May 1832. Gregory condemns the practice of mixed marriages, especially in Bavaria. One Thing Leads To AnotherBy Thomas DroleskeyDivorced and remarried couples cannot receive the Eucharist if they do not have a decree of nullity. Pastoral Ministry to the Divorced and RemarriedA Pastoral Letter from The Most Reverend Rene H. Gracida, D.D., Bishop of Corpus Christi given on May 22, 1994 explaining Church teaching on divorce and remarriage. The pastoral was prompted by recent proposals of an internal forum solution to divorce. Pauline PrivilegeA Pauline Privilege is the dissolution of a purely natural marriage which had been contracted between two non-Christians, one of whom has since become a Christian. The Pauline Privilege is so-named because it is based upon the apostle Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16. Preparation for the Sacrament of MarriagePontifical Council for the FamilyPreparation for marriage, for married and family life, is of great importance for the good of the Church. In fact, the sacrament of marriage has great value for the whole Christian community and, in the first place, for the spouses whose decision is such that it cannot be improvised or made hastily. In the past this preparation could count on the support of society, which recognized the values and benefits of marriage. Without any difficulties or doubts, the Church protected the sanctity of marriage with the awareness that this sacrament represented an ecclesial guarantee as the living cell of the people of God. At least in the communities that were truly evangelized, the Church's support was solid, unitary and compact. In general, separations and marriage failures were rare, and divorce was considered a social plagueMay 27, 1996 Questions People Ask About AnnulmentsWhat is A Matrimonial Tribunal, What is An Annulment, Shouldn't I Just Forget the Past, Are Decrees of Nullity Easier to Get These Days, Who Can Ask for An Annulment, How Many Petitions Are Successful, How Long Does it Take, Who Can Be A Witness, How Do I Start to Bring A Case of Nullity, What If My Case is Urgent, How Much Will it Cost, Does Every Case Go to Rome, What About the Children of Annulled Marriages, Is Nullity A Roman Catholic Form of Divorce Vademecum for Confessors concerning some Aspects of the Morality of Congugal LifePontifical Council for the FamilyThis Vademecum traces its origin to the particular pastoral sensitivity of the Holy Father, who has entrusted the task of preparing this aid for confessors to the Pontifical Council for the Family. With the experience he acquired both as a priest and a Bishop, the Pope ascertained the importance of clear and certain guidelines to which the ministers of the Sacrament of Reconciliation can refer in their dialogue with souls. The richness of the doctrine of the Magisterium of the Church on themes of marriage and the family, especially since the Second Vatican Council, has raised the need for a good synthesis regarding some questions of morality pertaining to conjugal life. Pontifical Council for the Family 12 February 1997 Nimiam LicentiamPope Benedict XIVValidity of Marriages Encyclical of 18 May 1743. Condemns clandestine marriages and restates certain rules concerning witnesses for valid marriages. The Vocation of Marriage in God's PlanBy Archbishop J. Francis StaffordOne year after serving as host for World Youth Day, the Archbishop of Denver traveled to Lima, Peru, where he delivered this remarkable address to the International Congress on the Family. ContraceptionCatholic AnswersIn 1968, Pope Paul VI issued his landmark encyclical letter Humanae Vitae (Latin: On Human Life), which reemphasized the Church's constant teaching that it is always intrinsically wrong to use artificial birth control or contraception for the purpose of preventing new life.Artificial birth control is any action which, either in anticipation of the conjugal act [sexual intercourse], or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible (Humanae Vitae 14). This includes sterilization, condoms and other barrier methods, spermicides, coitus interruptus (withdrawal), the Pill, and all other methods of artificial contraception. Updated: November 23, 2000