The Catholic Church allows annulment of marriages based on grounds such as fraud, misrepresentation, psychological incapacity, bigamy, and refusal to consummate the marriage. Lies about procreation, legal matters, sexual preference, and intention to be faithful can also lead to annulment. The church also considers the form of the marriage, bigamy, marriage to a relative, and refusal to consummate as grounds for annulment.
The Catholic Church views marriage as a covenant for life, which is why divorce and remarriage are not taken lightly. The church recognizes, however, that some marriages may not work out for various reasons beyond irreconcilable differences. Grounds for annulment are based on what happened at the time of the marriage, not later in the marriage. They range from fraud and misrepresentation, to psychological or mental incapacity on the part of one or both persons. Other issues may also require annulment in the Catholic Church, such as bigamy, outside pressure to marry, or refusal to consummate the marriage.
Many of the grounds for annulment revolve around the existence of lies by one or both people in the marriage. For example, lying about wanting or being able to have children is grounds for annulment, allowing the person who has been deceived to remarry someone who shares her views on procreation. Lies about legal matters such as past crime convictions, previous marriages, and drug addictions can also affect the decision to cancel. Finally, someone who seeks an annulment because their spouse lied about their sexual preference or intention to be faithful is likely to have their marriage declared void in the Catholic Church.
If the marriage is found to have been contracted without the proper ability to understand the commitment, it can be annulled. This means that someone who is too young, immature, or mentally challenged to fully understand what is expected of them can likely call off the marriage. Of course, this has to be proven somehow, as cancellation is usually granted on a case-by-case basis. Other similar reasons for annulment include entering into marriage only under duress, meaning that one or both people felt obligated to marry each other. This can occur due to pregnancy or an arranged marriage, for example.
Some grounds for annulment in the Catholic Church have to do with the canon law of the church itself rather than federal or state laws. One reason for an annulment, for example, is that the form of the marriage was incorrect, meaning that the wedding ceremony was not completed according to canon law. Being married to more than one person at a time, or bigamy, is also not allowed in the church, nor is marriage to a relative in most cases. One of the little-known grounds for annulment is a person’s refusal to consummate the marriage, especially since the Catholic Church sees procreation as one of the reasons for marriage in the first place. Therefore, anyone who can prove this or any other problem with their marriage can apply for an annulment in the Catholic Church once the divorce is final.
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