Expert: Fr. Michael - 4/4/2007

Question
Fr. Jerome,
Can a Roman Catholic man who was married in the Church become a priest after receiving a marriage annulment from the Church? It has always been my understanding that entering the priesthood after annulment is possible.

Answer
As to annulments, Novus Ordo annulments are 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 few cases that truly warrant an
annulment, after a detailed investigation of the facts and arguments on
both sides.

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.

The best thing you could do is to put the facts before
your personal confessor or priest where you are attending the Traditional Latin Mass and go by his judgment, for practical purposes.