Does a decree of nullity make children illegitimate?
NO! The law of the Catholic Church never denies the factual or historical existence of the parents’ relationship, nor does it deny that it may have been a binding marriage by civil or social standards. Hence, the Catholic Church’s law deems that any children born of a relationship which was presumed by at least one of the parents to be a valid and binding marriage at the time are to be considered legitimate, even if at a later time the marital bond is proven to have been invalid and null. 8. Can a divorced Catholic receive the Sacraments? YES! Divorce only indicates that the lived experience of a couple’s partnership has ended. As long as a divorced person has not initiated any subsequent marital or similar relationship with another partner and as long as he or she is, according to one’s conscience, in the state of grace, there is nothing preventing him or her from sacramental participation. 9. Can a divorced person remarry in the Catholic Church? Only if, through a Tribunal process, t
