Can a divorced person who is remarried without an annullment take communion?

Answer 1

This would depend on the situation of the person. For a Catholic to have sought out a divorce, a civil declaration, when they know that the bonds of matrimony have been made before God and therefore are unbreakable is both an insult to religion and an implicit denial of faith and thus is a very grave sin. Only if this person was truly sorry, thus recognizing their marriage is in fact not dissolved, and has been absolved in the confessional, they may of course go to Communion.

If one spouse forced the divorce on the other, the other who may be legally pressured to agree to the divorce commits no sin at all, for they do not believe in the divorce, recognizing that they are still married and are merely being forced under duress. This person is encourage not to stop going to Communion at all, especially during such a trial as a forced divorce!

A divorced person who has remarried when their original marriage is still valid in the eyes of the Church is living in sin and is not permitted to go to Communion until they put away the new person they are living with and either return to their original spouse or live a single's life. Dating and other such activities are forbidden to the individual as well.

While a priest who knows the unrepentant divorced person's situation is obliged to refuse Communion, even if the person comes up for it, many times the priest is unaware of the personal situations of those that come to him for the sacrament. This is further compounded by the introduction of Eucharistic Ministers, who give out Communion without the authority or spiritual discernment of the priest and so would not think twice. Thus it is incumbent upon the person themselves to not go up to Communion, for to do so would be a grave sacrilege and make their situation even worse before God and men.

Answer 2

I'm sorry but they should not. If you were married in the Catholic Church you are married for life. An annulment does not equal a divorce, it starts that your marriage isn't valid because there was something fundamentally wrong with it when you entered into it. (ie. Your spouse lied to you about something such as their ability to have children or previous marriage- something grievous or you weren't aware that you were entering a sacrament) This is why it's not easy to obtain an annullment.

Without one, you can still take Communion. You go to Confession and repent your sin. (And in some cases, where the destruction of the marriage was something you couldn't prevent, just talk to your priest.) However, if you remarry, you obviously are not remarried in the Church. So in the eyes of the Church you made a vow before God and are dishonoring it by now living with someone else. You have not repented your sin. You are still not living in a State of Grace and therefore not able to enter into Holy Communion.

If this situation is you, I recommend strongly that you discuss the matter with your priest.