Expert: Fr. Michael - 8/13/2011

Question
My son married in the catholic church some time ago and has since divorced. He has never attempted to request an annulment. He is now engaged and has asked me,his father, to be his witness at his wedding. the wedding will take place at someone's home. Am I allowed under church law to stand up for him? Is it o.k. to even attend the wedding? I don't know who is presiding over or performing the ceremony.

Answer
By attempting a bigamous marriage, your son is publicly excommunicating himself by his action.  It doesn't matter who is "presiding" over the affair, which is not a "wedding."  Therefore, no Catholic is permitted to be present at such a scandalous occasion.

As his father, you should explain to your son the gravity of what he is doing in an effort to dissuade himself from committing such a grave sin that he could be damned for eternity.  If your son is a Catholic, he knows that Our Lord, as recorded in all four Gospels, condemns divorce and remarriage as tantamount to adultery, a crime worthy of the death penalty.  Even if the civil penalty has been remitted in my countries at the present time, the spiritual penalty remains.