Can a divorced Catholic bride who has received an annulment be married in the Catholic Church to a Catholic groom who is likewise divorced but who has not yet gotten an annulment?

Answer 1

No. He would need to receive a decree of nullity as well. And here's why...

LEGAL VS. SARAMENTAL MARRIAGE:

There are two types of marriage:

1. natural marriage, which prevailed prior to Christ, which is legitimate under the natural law (or State Law, ie, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the State of Ohio, etc.)

2. the Sacrament of Marriage, which is now preeminent, and which is Divinely instituted (granted by the Roman Catholic Church)

Even after someone receives a divorce which severs the legal, or natural, marriage, that person is still bound in a sacramental union with his/her spouse. Remember in The Bible it says, "two become one." That union cannot be severed by legal means but through a nullification, or undoing, of the holy sacrament. If one is re-married without a Certificate of Nullity, ie, Annullment, that person is committing adultery against his/her first spouse with his/her second.

More on Annullments......................

DIVORCE & EXCOMMUNICATION:

"Divorce followed by remarriage was grounds for excommunication (under the 1917 Code of Canon Law), but NO LONGER IS (under the new Code of 1983)."

Bottom line: if the divorce and remarriage occurred before 1983 you can get the excommunication reversed.

Effects of excommunication = loss of the sacraments, public services and prayers of the Church, ecclesiastical burial, jurisdiction, benefices, canonical rights, and social intercourse. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05678a.htm

COST OF ANNULMENTS:

The Archdiocese of Boston, reports that a typical annulment takes about one year to complete. It costs about $900 of which the petitioner is expected to pay about half. Contrary to common rumors, the Church loses millions of dollars a year in the granting of annulments. "The process is involved. The Petitioner is asked to submit detailed testimony. The tribunal contacts the former spouse. Witnesses are required. An expert in the field of psychology may be required for an assessment. It is not an easy process. However, it is not impossible either." Rev. Michael Foster, "Can a marriage be declared null?," Archdiocese of Boston, at: http://www.rcab.org/marriage.html

LEGITAMACY OF CHILDREN FOLLOWING ANNULMENT:

Some Catholics therefore worry that their children will be considered illegitimate if they get an annulment. However, Canon 1137 of the Code of Canon Law specifically affirms the legitimacy of children born in both recognized and putative marriages (those later declared null).

(Putative spouse status is a remedial doctrine designed to protect the reasonable expectations of someone who acts on the belief that they are married, and generally entitled a putative spouse to the rights a legal spouse would have for the period from the putative marriage until discovery that the marriage was not Sacramentally legal.)

Can. 1137 Children who are conceived or born of a valid or of a putative marriage are legitimate. Can. 1138 §1 The father is he who is identified by a lawful marriage, unless by clear arguments the contrary is proven. §2 Children are presumed legitimate who are born at least 180 days after the date the marriage was celebrated, or within 300 days from the date of the dissolution of conjugal life. Can. 1139 Illegitimate children are legitimated by the subsequent marriage of their parents, whether valid or putative, or by a rescript of the Holy See. Can. 1140 As far as canonical effects are concerned, legitimated children are equivalent to legitimate children in all respects, unless it is otherwise expressly provided by the law. http://www.intratext.com/IXT/ENG0017/_P42.HTM

If a couple receive an annulment, declaring that the Sacrament of Marriage never existed, their former marriage would then have the status of a natural marriage. The childen of a natural marriage are still legitimate. (see St. Thomas in the Summa: http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5041.htm)

(Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC] 1138 & 1139). An "annulment can't affect children's status retroactively."

In the common law tradition, legitimacy describes the status of children who are born to parents that are legally married, or born shortly after a marriage ends through divorce. The opposite of legitimacy is the status of being "illegitimate"-born to unmarried parents, or to a married woman but of a father other than the woman's husband. In both canon and civil law, the offspring of putative or annulled marriages are legitimate. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Annulment

The parents, now divorced, presumably once obtained a civil license and entered upon a legal marriage. Children from that union are, therefore, their legitimate offspring. Legitimate means "legal." The civil divorce and the Church annulment do not alter this situation. Nor do they change the parents' responsibility toward the children. In fact, during annulment procedures the Church reminds petitioners of their moral obligation to provide for the proper upbringing of their children.http://www.americancatholic.org/News.../CU/ac1002.asp

The marital status of the parents does not affect the status of the children. All children are created in God's image and have equal status in the church. Neither civil law nor church law considers the children of an annulled marriage illegitimate. Nor does the annulment imply that the children were not the fruit of a genuine human love. Annulment is simply a decision on the circumstances surrounding a marriage that could prevent that marriage from being a sacramental marriage.http://www.stdanielclarkston.org/annulmnt.htm