Under Catholic teaching, Catholics cannot remarry in the Church after a divorce without an annulment, because the Church still considers the first marriage valid until a tribunal declares otherwise. A civil divorce ends the legal marriage but not the sacramental bond. A Catholic who divorces and then remarries civilly without a Declaration of Nullity is not thrown out of the Church, but the second union is treated as irregular, and it affects access to the sacraments. The path back to a Church-recognized marriage runs through the annulment process, or, in narrower situations, through a privilege of the faith or a convalidation.
Why the First Marriage Still Counts
Catholic teaching holds that a marriage between two baptized people, once consummated, is a sacrament that lasts until one spouse dies. Canon 1141 states that a ratified and consummated marriage “cannot be dissolved by any human power or by any cause other than death.”1CanonLaw.Ninja. Code of Canon Law – Canon 1141 No pope, bishop, or tribunal has the authority to end that bond.
The Church does acknowledge civil divorce as a legal reality. When a marriage involves abuse, abandonment, or serious threats to a spouse’s safety or finances, the Catechism recognizes that a civil divorce may be the only practical way to protect legal rights. What civil divorce does not do is touch the sacramental bond. In the eyes of the Church, the divorced Catholic who has not obtained an annulment is still married to their first spouse.
That is the reason a second marriage cannot simply be celebrated in the Church. From the Church’s perspective, the person is already married. Canon 1085 makes this concrete: someone bound by a prior marriage cannot validly enter a new one, even if that prior marriage was itself invalid; the earlier bond has to be formally resolved first.2CanonLaw.Ninja. Code of Canon Law – Canon 1085
What Happens If You Remarry Civilly Without an Annulment
Nothing legal stops a divorced Catholic from remarrying at a courthouse or in another ceremony. But the Church does not recognize that second marriage as sacramental, and there are real consequences for the person’s sacramental life.
A Catholic who is divorced but has not remarried remains in full communion. They can receive the Eucharist, go to confession, and participate fully in parish life. Divorce by itself changes none of that.
Once a civilly divorced Catholic remarries without an annulment, the Church views the situation differently. The traditional teaching, still on the books, is that a person in this situation should refrain from receiving communion, because the Church regards the new union as adulterous while the first sacramental bond is still considered valid.
Pope Francis’s 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia opened a more pastoral path. It did not change the underlying doctrine on indissolubility, but it allowed for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to access the sacraments on a case-by-case basis after a period of discernment with a priest. In practice, that means a pastor may work with a couple to weigh their specific circumstances, their conscience, and their relationship to the Church, rather than applying a single blanket rule.
For anyone who does not fit within that pastoral exception, the Church still encourages full participation in parish life short of receiving communion: attending Mass, praying, serving the community, and, where grounds exist, pursuing an annulment.
Divorced Catholics Are Not Excommunicated
One persistent misconception is worth clearing up. Divorce does not trigger excommunication. The 1917 Code of Canon Law did impose penalties on Catholics who attempted a second civil marriage while the first bond was still recognized, but the 1983 Code removed that sanction. A divorced Catholic, and even a divorced and civilly remarried one, is still Catholic, still obligated to attend Mass, and still part of the Church. The restriction that applies to the civilly remarried is narrower and specific: it concerns access to certain sacraments, not membership.
What an Annulment Actually Is
If a Catholic wants to remarry with the Church’s recognition, an annulment is almost always the door. It helps to understand what that word actually means, because it is not a Catholic version of divorce.
A Declaration of Nullity is a finding by a Church tribunal that what looked like a valid marriage was missing something essential from the beginning. A divorce says a valid marriage is over. An annulment says a valid sacramental marriage never existed, even though a wedding ceremony took place and a civil marriage was real.
This has direct implications many people worry about. An annulment does not affect the legitimacy of children born during the marriage. Canon law is explicit on that point. The civil marriage was real, the children are legitimate, and parental obligations are unchanged. The tribunal has found only that the specific requirements for a binding sacrament were not met when the couple exchanged vows.3Vatican.va. Code of Canon Law – Book VII – Processes – Part III – Canons 1671-1716
Grounds That Might Apply
Church law recognizes several categories of reasons a marriage might be declared null. They share one requirement: the problem must have existed at the time of the wedding, not developed later. A marriage valid on day one does not become invalid because things went badly afterward.
Psychological Incapacity
Canon 1095 identifies three related grounds. A person who lacked sufficient use of reason at the time of the wedding could not validly consent. A person who suffered a grave defect in their ability to judge what marriage actually requires could not meaningfully commit to it. And a person who, for psychological reasons, was simply unable to fulfill the essential obligations of marriage was incapable of entering one.4Vatican.va. Code of Canon Law Book IV – Canons 998-1165
That third category catches most modern annulment cases. Severe personality disorders, untreated addictions, and deeply ingrained patterns of abusive or controlling behavior can all demonstrate psychological incapacity for the partnership marriage demands, provided the condition can be traced back to the time of the wedding.
Defective Consent
Marriage requires genuine, free consent to everything marriage means. Consent is defective if one or both spouses deliberately excluded an essential element when saying their vows. The most common exclusions involve fidelity, permanence, and openness to children. A person who married intending to continue outside sexual relationships did not consent to an exclusive union. A person who viewed the marriage as provisional did not consent to a lifelong bond. A person who absolutely refused children and concealed that intention withheld consent to an essential purpose of marriage.
Consent obtained through force or grave fear is also invalid. Someone who married only because of overwhelming pressure, threats, or coercion did not freely consent.
Impediments and Defect of Form
Some conditions automatically invalidate a marriage. A prior bond is one, as noted above. Defect of canonical form is another and is often the simplest to prove. Catholic marriage must take place before a qualified priest or deacon and two witnesses.5CanonLaw.Ninja. Code of Canon Law – The Form of the Celebration of Marriage A Catholic who married at a courthouse or in a non-Catholic ceremony without first obtaining a dispensation from the bishop did not marry validly under Church law. These cases can often be resolved in as little as two to three weeks through a documentary process, because the invalidity is proved by records rather than testimony.
How the Annulment Process Works
The process begins with a conversation. You contact your parish priest or the diocesan tribunal office, and a priest or trained staff member helps you evaluate whether you likely have grounds and what type of case fits.
The Petition and Investigation
The person seeking the annulment, called the petitioner, files a written petition with the tribunal. It explains the facts of the marriage, identifies the grounds, and includes a personal account, a list of witnesses, and any supporting documents.3Vatican.va. Code of Canon Law – Book VII – Processes – Part III – Canons 1671-1716 Most dioceses assign an advocate to help the petitioner prepare.
The tribunal then notifies the other spouse (the respondent), who has the right to participate. A Church official called the defender of the bond is assigned to argue in favor of the marriage’s validity, which keeps the process rigorous. The respondent’s right to participate is not a right to block the case. A tribunal can and does proceed without the respondent’s cooperation.
The tribunal gathers testimony, reviews documents, and may consult psychological experts before issuing a decision. If the marriage is declared null, both parties are free to marry in the Church, assuming no other impediments. If the petition is denied, either party, the defender of the bond, or the promoter of justice may appeal to a higher tribunal.
Timeline and Cost
Pope Francis’s 2015 reform, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, eliminated the old requirement that every affirmative decision receive automatic confirmation from a second tribunal. A single decision now suffices when the judges reach moral certainty, and the reform also created a shorter track for cases where the evidence is overwhelming and both spouses agree on the facts.6The Holy See. Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus
A typical formal case now takes roughly twelve months from petition to decision. If appealed, expect eighteen to twenty months. Simpler documentary cases can be resolved in weeks. No wedding date should be set until the tribunal has issued its decision.
The 2015 reform also directed that annulment processes should ideally be free. Many U.S. dioceses still charge administrative fees, typically ranging from a few hundred to roughly six hundred dollars for a formal case, with simpler cases costing less. Most dioceses have policies ensuring that no one is turned away for inability to pay, so it is worth asking the tribunal about fee waivers or payment plans before assuming the cost is out of reach.
Conditions on Remarriage
Even after a Declaration of Nullity, the decree sometimes carries conditions, called a vetitum, before the person may marry again in the Church. Counseling is a common requirement. These conditions have to be satisfied before a new marriage can proceed.
When an Annulment Is Not the Right Process
Not every situation calls for a standard annulment. Two special provisions exist for marriages that were never sacramental because at least one spouse was unbaptized.
Under the Pauline Privilege, when two unbaptized people marry and one later converts to Christianity, the marriage may be dissolved if the non-baptized spouse departs or refuses to live peacefully with the convert. The dissolution takes effect at the moment the baptized party enters a new marriage. Both parties must have been unbaptized throughout their married life, the respondent must remain unbaptized, and they must be given an opportunity to respond, a step called interpellation.4Vatican.va. Code of Canon Law Book IV – Canons 998-1165
The Petrine Privilege, sometimes called the favor of the faith, applies more broadly to marriages where at least one party was unbaptized. It requires a decision from Rome. Requirements include that the marriage was the first for both parties, that there is no hope of reconciliation, and that the petitioner was not the primary cause of the marriage’s breakdown. These cases tend to run longer than standard annulments.
Convalidation: Regularizing a Civil Marriage
A different path applies to Catholics who married civilly the first time, have no prior sacramental bond to resolve, and want their existing marriage recognized by the Church. This is called convalidation, and it is not a blessing of the existing marriage. It is a new exchange of consent before a priest or deacon and two witnesses, creating the sacramental bond the civil ceremony could not.4Vatican.va. Code of Canon Law Book IV – Canons 998-1165
The preparation mirrors what any engaged couple goes through: meeting with a priest, completing a pre-nuptial investigation, participating in marriage preparation, and gathering sacramental records. If either spouse has a prior marriage, that bond has to be resolved first, through annulment or another process, before convalidation can happen.
The Practical First Step
If you are divorced and thinking about remarrying, or already civilly remarried and wondering how to bring your situation into the Church, the practical starting point is the same. Contact your parish priest or the diocesan tribunal office. That first conversation costs nothing, carries no obligation, and gives you a clear read on which process fits your situation, how long it is likely to take, and what it will require of you.