Expert: Fr. Michael - 10/8/2008

Question
A FRIEND WENT TO A MEETING HELD BY THE DIOCESE OF NEWARK, NJ
CONCERNING ANNULMENT.  A CERTAIN TYPE OF ANNULMENT WAS MENTIONED BY SOMEONE IN THE GROUP BUT SHE COULD NOT RECALL HOW IT WAS TERMED.  IT PERTAINED TO SOMEONE WHO WAS 60 YEARS OLD AND HAD NO LIVING RELATIVES AS WITNESSES.  THE PRIEST SAID THERE WAS A WAY TO GET THE ANNULMENT JUST WITH THE HELP OF THE PASTOR FROM THE CHURCH WHERE SHE WAS MARRIED.  CAN YOU HELP ME WITH THE ANSWER?

Answer
We have no idea what this is, but it certainly isn't Catholic.

Many people do not understand what an annulment, or (more
accurately) declaration of nullity, is.  It has nothing to do with what happened *after* the marriage was entered into.  It relates only to an invalidating defect *at the time of* the marriage that rendered the contact null and void.  After all, the marriage contract (exchange of promises) was publicly entered into "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part."

Remember the warning before the marriage contract is entered
into:  "If anyone knows why these two should not be joined in Holy
Matrimony, let him speak now or forever hold his peace"?  That is intended to ferret out any nullifying causes before the marriage is entered into, for example, one of the parties is already married, one of the parties is under the age of consent, or the parties are related to one another in too close a degree by consanguinity or affinity.

Novus Ordo annulments are highly problematical because the grounds in the Novus Ordo canon law are significantly different from the traditional canon law of Roman Catholicism.  Moreover, they have been used to produce a scandalous "divorce mill" in the Novus
Ordo Church.  Traditionally, there are very few cases that truly warrant an annulment, after a detailed investigation of the facts and arguments on both sides at many levels.