10. THE QUESTION WAS: The marriage vows of these couples would all be invalid (and therefore eligible for an annulment) except for one. Which one is NOT grounds for an annulment?

a.      Still drunk and drugged out, a couple wakes up in Las Vegas having no idea they got married the night before.

b.      Husband recites vows at wedding while secretly planning to cheat on the wife soon after, or is at least willing to cheat if opportunity comes along

c.       One or both spouses marry with plans to permanently block all chances of having children indefinitely by using birth control pill, condom, etc.

d.      Couple has the idea they will have a “trial marriage” where if it doesn’t work out, they’ll just part ways. Couple has believed from the start that remarriage is acceptable.

e.      One of the spouses has severe psychological illness prior to and throughout wedding day and marriage that prevents him or her from fulfilling obligations of marriage.

f.        Couple marries, but husband forgot to mention to wife he was married previously to Egyptian princess who is still searching for him.

g.      One spouse never believed in God, and still doesn’t. He or she regarded the marriage as purely a civil action.

h.      On the day of the wedding, both spouses are completely aware and mature regarding obligations of marriage, but 10 years later, one spouse succumbs to evil and commits adultery with good-looking charming individual.

ANSWER:  H is not grounds for annulment…..if this couple’s vows were sincere and valid, the adultery does not annul a marriage. Repeated infidelity might be grounds for a divorce, but not for remarriage. An annulment means the marriage never occurred in the first place. Once a marriage occurs, God tells us that the couple actually becomes “one flesh.” That cannot be reversed. The Bible says “let no man separate what God has joined.” The holy sacrament of marriage is a vocation from God for us to serve our spouse until death. God gives his children all the graces they need to fulfill their role in this sacred union.

Even though no action taken AFTER the marriage vows can make a marriage invalid, it is true that actions taken after vows can offer the Church a glimpse into a spouse’s state of mind at the time of the vows. For example, if one spouse cheats one week after the wedding, that might provide information as to the person’s attitude towards marriage on the day of the wedding.

Reasons for annulments are not limited to the ones listed above. Another reason would be: one person was forced by threat or gunpoint to enter the marriage. Also, if one or both of the parties is Catholic, the couple must receive permission from the Church to marry in order for the marriage to be valid. (This rule does not apply to two non-Catholics) Also, there are other psychological ramifications not addressed above. For info, make an appointment with a priest as soon as possible. 

 

Genesis 2:24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.

Here’s a famous book that you will not stop hearing about if you show up at a young adult Catholic Bible Study….. “Good News About Sex And Marriage” by Christopher West

WEB SITES ON MARRIAGE

http://www.catholic-pages.com/marriage/sacrament.asp

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09707a.htm

http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap060700.htm

 

Web Sites on Sexual Morality

http://www.silk.net/RelEd/sexuality.htm

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt2art6.htm

http://www.catholic.com/chastity.asp

http://www.concernedcatholics.org/chastity.htm

http://www.concernedcatholics.org/sinsagainst.htm#

http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt2art6.htm

http://ascensioncatholic.net/ALPHA%20TOPICS/virtue_of_chastity.htm

http://ascensioncatholic.net/ALPHA%20TOPICS/sexual_morality_Part%20two.htm

http://jerome2007.tripod.com/catholic_ethics_and_morality.htm

http://www.staycatholic.com/sexually_transmitted_diseases_devastate_millions.htm

http://www.catholicparents.org/oxcart/warfare.html (The Occult’s Demonic Influences)

http://www.ecatholic2000.com/mag/id47.html (Harry Potter homily)

 

 

 

 

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