Dear Catholic Exchange:
I have a question regarding “conditioned consent” in the annulment requirements. I am a Catholic and divorced from a Protestant. We were married by a Justice of the Peace. If my former spouse wanted to use birth control to limit the number of children we had, and I agreed, does that qualify as conditioned consent? I have returned to the Church since my divorce and sought the Sacrament of Reconciliation for that mortal sin. I hope to someday meet a Catholic man and remarry in the Church. Will I have problems obtaining an annulment?
May Christ's Peace be with all of you and may He bless your work,
E. M. M.
Dear Ms. M.,
Peace in Christ!
It is really impossible for us to tell based on what little you have told us whether you have grounds for an annulment. We could say that if you were Catholic at the time of your marriage and you married outside the Church without obtaining a dispensation from your Bishop to do so (or without making a formal act of defection from the Catholic faith) your first marriage would be invalid. It just is not clear from your question what all the facts are. Besides, even if we were to venture an opinion, our view would be of no consequence at all since annulment rulings take place exclusively at the level of diocesan marriage tribunal.
We would suggest you ask your question to a canonist in your own diocese or better yet your parish pastor. He is very likely quite accustomed to working with cases such as yours and probably would be willing to shepherd you through the annulment process or refer you to someone who could.
United in the Faith,
Pete Brown
Information Specialist
Catholics United for the Faith
827 North Fourth Street
Steubenville, OH 43952
800-MY-FAITH (800-693-2484)
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