Do previous marriages of non-Catholics and unbaptized persons need to be annulled before these persons can be married in the Catholic Church?
The essential aspects of a Christian marriage apply to all marriages of the baptized, whether those being married are Catholic or Protestant. Whenever a person wishes to marry in the Catholic Church and there has been a previous marriage, that bond of marriage must be examined to clarify the status of persons and their freedom to marry. Such an examination may also be necessary in cases where one or both marriage partners were never baptized. The marriages of one or both parties being unbaptized may be resolved under special norms for Privilege cases. Such cases are requests made to the Holy Father in Rome , who is asked to dissolve the bond of marriage due to the non-baptized status of a party before and during the married life. These cases are also begun at the parish level with the assistance of a priest or deacon.
Related Questions
- Do divorced, non-Catholics have to have their marriages annulled that were not performed in a church in order to marry a Catholic in the Catholic Church?
- Do all marriages need to be annulled before a second marriage within the Catholic Church can take place?
- Can we get married in a catholic church without his christening certificate?
