Question
My question is, I am divorced, and I want to get married to a guy that is an Orthodox Christian. I am Catholic, and I am trying to get an annulment.
I was wondering, if I got the annulment would we be able to get married in an Orthodox Church, and if not why? and if it is not possible for us to get married, is there any way for us to be able to get married in the Orthodox religion?
I will do anything for us to be able to get married, so please let me know what we can do. I need to know what is possible for us to be married in God’s house in the Orthodox Church.
Answer
Thank you very much for your question. I pray that everything will work out for you and your fiance. Since I do not know all the details of your particular situation it is difficult for me to offer specifics. However, I can offer the following:
The Roman Catholic Church will require you to obtain an annulment from your diocese’s marriage tribunal before permitting you to be married in the Roman Catholic Church. You did not indicate whether or not you wish to remain a practicing, active Roman Catholic or whether you are considering converting to Orthodox Christianity. If you wish to remain an active, practicing Roman Catholic, you will need to the annullment, in the Roman Catholic Church’s eyes, in order to get married in an Orthodox ceremony.
From the general Orthodox perspective, the annullment is of no significance, assuming that you are not planning to remain a member of the Roman Catholic Church. However, since you do not indicate the jurisdiction to which your Orthodox fiance belongs, I cannot comment on your individual situation, since other Orthodox jurisdictions may indeed require you to produce an annullment decree even if you wish to be married in an Orthodox ceremony. You can do two things here: Write back to me and tell me which parish and to which jurisdiction your Orthodox fiance belongs since that will assist me in determining a more complete response, or make an appointment to speak with the priest at the Orthodox parish to which your fiance belongs and ask what the regulations in the diocese to which he belongs require.
Because I do not know any of the other particulars in your case, I cannot comment further. Providing me with the information will help, but ultimately you will need to speak to the priest at your Orthodox fiance’s parish to see what is required in that parish and the jurisdiction to which it belongs.