Re joining the RCChurch

Advice please: How would a 74-year-old woman who was a practising RC ( baptised and confirmed) return to the Church following conversion to the Anglican faith, divorce and re-marriage? The first marriage was not annulled or declared invalid, but the husband of the second marriage is now impotent, rendering sex impossible, so removing that impediment. Could the person simply go to confession?

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Welcome to the SDMB, @bentleyfox.

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Your post is best suited to our IMHO category, which is for advice and opinions. It’s no biggie. I will move your post for you.

Moved from Cecil’s Columns to IMHO.

I assume by RC you mean Royal Catholic. The first step is to speak to your local priest. He will tell you what you need to do. Generally speaking, it most likely will involve simply going to confession, but the priest will give you proper instructions for your specific situation.

Even in the UK, I think it’s Roman Catholic. :upside_down_face:

D’oh! I have no idea why I typed Royal. Some sort of brain fart.

Maybe you saw “RC” and thought of the Cola, where is stands for Royal Crown? RC Cola and Moonpies are what we use for communion here in North Carolina.

Your parish priest will have the answers for you; this isn’t confessional material as I doubt anything you’ve done would be considered a sin exactly. More of a sit-down in the office. The conversion/re-conversion probably won’t affect you much although there might be some ritual reaffirming your commitment to Catholicism. Divorce rules in the RCC are arcane, but these kinds of complications are common these days and there are standard procedures.

I admit to being curious what happens to her current marriage situation vis-a-vis the church, and whether accommodation is made based on the OP’s assertion of her husband’s impotence. That is, do they forgive the second marriage since it happened when she was not a practicing Catholic? It wasn’t mentioned, but I presume the first husband is still alive. How bendy does doctrine have to be to deal with this situation?

I’ve always heard “Once a Catholic, always a Catholic,” (unless you get yourself excommunicated). You wouldn’t have to re-join since you technically never left.

The fellow my kid sister married had his first marriage annulled – wouldn’t that make his children bastards in the eyes of the church?

No, you’re thinking of the Jets.

Quiet, you. :rofl: :rofl:

(ETA: needs more :rofl: :rofl:.)

I’m going to assume that while she was Anglican she wasn’t meeting her obligation to attend Mass on Sunday ( An Anglican Mass doesn’t fulfill the obligation) so there probably is some confessional material - especially if the OP s more comfortable in a confessional that face to face. I’m not sure that the conversion is a separate issue.

Nope - to the extent that illegitimacy matters ( I don’t think it does at all, anymore. Used to be an impediment to ordination) children of an annulled marriage are not illegitimate. After all, no one knew when the kids were born that the marriage wasn’t valid.

We’ll blame auto-incorrect for that one. :wink:

I recommend meeting with a priest, but ask around first to find the more open, liberal priests. And if you can, go to different churches and meet with different priests. Some can be overly strict and unreasonable.

Briefly about me, I was raised RC, baptized and confirmed, and my wife was too. For the last 25 years we’ve been going to an ELCA Lutheran church. The liturgies are similar but there are several important differences in the rules and sacraments.

Start by trying to find a Jesuit parish.

I think I’m missing something here.

Thanks for my first smile of the day.

mmm

I don’t think you’re missing something as much as I don’t think it really matters - I think the idea is that since he’s impotent , they can’t have sex so the remarriage is OK, since “no sex”. But although I have heard that people in this situation are told “to live as brother and sister” while waiting for an annulment, it doesn’t eliminate the need for an annulment.

It was my understanding (as a non-Catholic) that civil divorce was not recognized by the Church. So the first marriage remains in effect (assuming it complied with any relevant requirements in its formation) unless it is annulled by the church. A second (civil) marriage, therefore, constitutes adultery.

If your second husband is impotent, then you’re not married to him in the eyes of the Church, but you’re also not committing adultery.

I’m not a Roman Catholic, but have a RC friend who got divorced and wanted to carry on being a practising Catholic. I think the issue is that the RC Church would regard her as ‘still married’ to the first husband, and is therefore barred from taking Holy Communion. My friend had to get her first marriage annulled before she could take Communion. She has never remarried.

Of course, if the OPs first marriage was not in a Catholic Church, they may not count it anyway. Certainly worth asking a (nice) priest!

As to confession, that’s something all RCs have to do on a regular schedule anyway, in order to remain in a ‘state of grace’. So she’ll certainly have to do that bit pronto!