Can divorced people do RCIA

Answer 1

RCIA, or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is the process by which an adult becomes a member of the (Roman) Catholic Church. For those who have never been baptized, the process leads to their Baptism, Confirmation, and First Communion, usually at the celebration of the Easter Vigil. For those who have previously been baptized in another faith, it prepares a person to make their Profession of Faith, followed by the reception of Confirmation and First Communion, again, usually at the Easter Vigil celebration. A divorced person may enter this process at any time, but to complete the program and receive the sacraments, it is presumed that a person is not in an invalid marriage according to Church law. What does that mean? The Church agressively protects the sacrament of marriage, because it is a holy state of life for those who enter into it and it is a sign of the covenental union between God and the Church. As such, it is not simply a contract, but a covenant. Contracts may be broken when a party fails to live up to his or her obligations, and indeed, when this happens, it makes the parties, so to speak enemies-- they lawyer up and go to court and there is a winner and a loser. (And this doesn't necessarily pertain only to marriage, but in any contract between persons.) A covenant, however, is something deeper. When persons enter into a covenant (as understood biblically), there is an obligation for the parties to remain faithful to the covenant unto death. Indeed breaking a covenant would only be done upon the death of one of the parties. If someone defaults in their obligations, the one sinned against is obligated to assist the default party in making good on their obligations, lest they be liable to death for their transgression. Indeed, this is what God did in making a covenant with his people-- even though we defaulted from the obligations of the covenant, he could not reject us-- God, so to speak, was obligated to assist us by the forgiveness of our sins, lest humanity be lost to the justice of death under the law of the covenant. Indeed, Jesus himself accepted death and then trumped it in order guarantee the covenant of his blood as an eternal and everlasting covenant between God and his people. Whew... OK. The covenant between husband and wife is similar. It only ends with the death of one of the spouses. If one is married, divorces, and marries another, they, essentially, commit adultery against their 'first' spouse with whom they are bound to in their marriage covenant. It would be gravely sinful to be living in a state of adultery or concubinage, and as such, it would preclude a person's ability to receive the sacraments in the Church at the end of the RCIA process. A divorced person who is un-remarried may enter the Church and receive the sacraments so long as they have not attempted or will not attempt marriage again. Marriages where both parties are not Catholic are presumed to be valid, and thus unbreakable. Marriages where one or more of the parties are Catholic are also presumed to be valid and unbreakable, but Catholics must enter into marriage according to 'canonical form', that is, according to Church law. Without this, an attempt at marriage is invalid and non-binding. The Church does have a process where it examines the validity of marriages and, if an attempt at marriage can be determined to be invalid, then it is laid aside (as if it never happened) and a person is declared 'free' to attempt marriage in the Church. There are several ways that this can be accomplished. First, if a Catholic does not obseve canonical form (for instance, he or she gets married outside the Church-- in a Protestant church, in front of a Justice of the Peace, or in front of Elvis in Vegas-- without permission), then this marriage might be ruled invalid. The marriage may be ruled invalid if the minister (priest or deacon) did not have authority to solemnize the marriage. (a priest must have territorial jurisdiction over at least one of the parties involved, or receive delegation from that party's pastor, or he cannot solemnize a marriage-- thus, "Rent-a-Priests" and other rogue priests cannot validly solemnize marriage within the Catholic Church, as they have no jurisdiction anywhere.) A likely scenario is that a there are no conditions which allow the Church to determine that the attempt at marriage was invalid according to a technicality. If this is the case, then the Church will examine the intent of the parties entering into marriage to determine if one or both of the parties entered marriage with defective consent. If the consent to marry was defective, then the attempt at marriage is not valid and a person is free to attempt marriage again. Defective consent can be demonstrated by showing that one or both of the parties were in error about the person (suppose, if an identical twin substituted himself/herself at the ceremony as a joke, and the person did not know who they were giving their consent to in the ceremony-- here there is an error in the person involved), by the presence of a profound mental defect (insanity, substance abuse, etc), or by withholding or denying consent to one or more of the foundational components of marriage (by witholding the intention of freely giving onself to a faithful, total, or fruitful marriage). If one of these defects in intention can be proven in a Church tribunal, then a marriage can be determined to be invalid and a person may attempt marriage again or have a current civil marriage 'blessed' in the Church. Of course, in the event of the death of a previous spouse, the marriage bond is broken, and it is possible for a person to enter into a new union. (Oh, by the way, a person is prevented from entering into a new marital union in the Church if they caused the death of their previous spouse.) A Church tribunal is the only way that the validity of marriage may be determined, and such procedures are initiated by one's own pastor. A priest on his own authority does not have the ability to lay aside a marriage. (Marriage is a public act which cannot be resolved by private means such as the 'internal forum' of the confessional.) It is not unusual for a person wishing to become Catholic to present themselves with a history of marriages and divorces, and then be required to enter into this process. It is not easy or fun and there is no guarantee that a person will receive the answers they want to hear, but it is the right way which respects the marital union as a covenental union between man and woman. In all cases, it is necessary that a person present information relevant to their situation to the priest or parish personnel who are in charge of the RCIA program in your parish. They are the ones who can examine the particulars of your case and make sure that you are presented with all of the options at your disposal. To anyone in this situation I would say: Good luck, be patient, and stay close to the Spirit who is leading you in this process.