Annulments and divorce: West and East - 11/11/17 07:50 AM
When a marriage fails, the Roman Catholic Church seems to think that its due to a technical flaw because in their mind it cannot fail. But what they fail to grasp is that humans can fail even when God does not. Even if the marriage was performed perfectly, and even if the parties fully intended to keep their vows, the marriage can still fail. The marriage IS valid and did happen and you cannot say that it did not. The Roman Catholic Church can say that it will not divorce or annul them in this case, but on a pastoral level it knows that those are not practical options.
So more often than not, at least in Malta, it will make excuses for annulment because it created an impossible situation where they cannot be seperated but cannot be together either.
In such cases, in my opinion, divorce like the Orthodox Church gives, based on oikonomia, is the honest response. Both annulment and divorce would be sinful, but one is dishonest while the other leads to repentance and healing.
Which brings me to my query (something that is cropping up in Malta since civil divorce was legalised in 2011 and with annulments by the Catholic Church soaring since then):
a) If a Roman Catholic individual obtains an annulment from the Catholic Church Tribunal (whether he had requested it or not), and subsequently he converts to Orthodox Catholicism, how would this be handled by the Orthodox Church?
b) Would it consider his marriage as if it never happened? Will it consider him to be 'still' validly married? Or will the person be subject to another process, especially if the intention would be to marry an Orthodox person?
So more often than not, at least in Malta, it will make excuses for annulment because it created an impossible situation where they cannot be seperated but cannot be together either.
In such cases, in my opinion, divorce like the Orthodox Church gives, based on oikonomia, is the honest response. Both annulment and divorce would be sinful, but one is dishonest while the other leads to repentance and healing.
Which brings me to my query (something that is cropping up in Malta since civil divorce was legalised in 2011 and with annulments by the Catholic Church soaring since then):
a) If a Roman Catholic individual obtains an annulment from the Catholic Church Tribunal (whether he had requested it or not), and subsequently he converts to Orthodox Catholicism, how would this be handled by the Orthodox Church?
b) Would it consider his marriage as if it never happened? Will it consider him to be 'still' validly married? Or will the person be subject to another process, especially if the intention would be to marry an Orthodox person?