I was married in a chapel and then divorced two years later. My finance was married in a catholic church and his wife passed away. Can you get married twice in a Catholic church?

Answer 1

Bless you for being so concerned about having your marriage be blessed by the Catholic Church. You truly have a divine spark within you that is growing immensely through the Holy Spirit to do good by your faith. First, to answer your question: Yes you can get married multiple times in the Catholic Church - only if your marriage is dissolved through death or found to be annulled. There is no such thing as a divorce to a Catholic, the bond is permanent in this world, 'What God joins, let no man asunder'. On death first. The vow goes, 'unto death do us part' because essentially Catholics believe that those who go to heaven are re-married with Christ as their spouse. After experiencing the death of a spouse, many Catholics feel the spiritual urge to marry again and continue their marital vocation. God very much blesses these people as marriage is a vocation that He certainly wishes for them. This means that your fiance is free to re-marry. As far as annulment goes, all annulment means is that a marriage was found to never have existed ever. Annulment is the process in which a Catholic must undergo to see if they can marry again (actually, for the very first time!). The process investigates the facts behind the marriage: was it done with complete consent of the will free from any outside pressure? There are other questions asked, of course. If found in tact, the marriage is still in tact and the Catholic has a duty to their spouse to live their sacrament of marriage despite how difficult or trying it may be (even if having to live separately). Such hardships may indeed be a particular kind of cross that the Catholic and their spouse have to bear. If not, the annulment releases the Catholic from that false marriage to essentially being able to marry. In your case, I would consult a priest or deacon that you trust the most and see if the annulment process is appropriate for you to undergo. Sometimes the process goes very quickly if there were obvious reasons that the first (false) marriage never really happened. God bless you and your fiance, I hope that you can get this all sorted out and live in the fullness of Christ. I can clearly tell by your desire to be blessed as a sacramental marriage that this means a whole lot to you. God loves you and your fiance very much.