Ah... the Thorne family. I heard that had a bit of trouble with that Damian kid.
Posted on 10/25/2004 3:23:21 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Why have we not heard anything about Sen. John Kerry’s former wife, the mother of his daughters? What can you tell us about her? When divorced, remarried, etc.? - P.S., Lebanon
You probably haven’t heard anything about her because she’s an exceedingly private person.
Kerry married the former Julia Thorne, a Philadelphia heiress, in 1970 in Bay Shore, N.Y. They honeymooned in Jamaica.
As you note, they had two daughters, Alexandra in 1973 and Vanessa in 1976.
The couple separated in 1982 at a time when Thorne was battling a deep depression and contemplating suicide.
"After 14 years as a political wife," she wrote in a book about depression titled "You Are Not Alone," "I associated politics only with anger, fear and loneliness. …
"I could no longer pretend I was of use to my husband or my children. I knew that once I was gone my family and friends would be relieved of the burden of my incompetency."
The couple’s divorce was final in 1988 but was not annulled by the Roman Catholic Church until 1997 – two years after Kerry married Teresa Simões-Ferreira Heinz, a former United Nations translator and widow of Pennsylvania Sen. H. John Heinz III, a Republican.
Thorne now lives in Bozeman, Mont., with her new husband, architect Richard Charlesworth, and recently completed a course of treatment for cancer.
She’s spurned attempts to get her to talk about her ex-husband.
"Julia does not want to answer questions from the media," a family friend told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle earlier this year. "She hopes her desire for privacy will be respected and honored thoroughly. … She wants to be left alone."
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at bristolnews.com ...
I know the feeling! The Catholic church has been very clear that an anullment has no effect on the standing of the children. As for those "write a check" anullments we hear about... I know someone who always said, "do those people really think they are going to fool God?" It is unfortunate, however, that those sham anullments cause people to look askance at every anullment....
The parents, now divorced, presumably once obtained a civil license and entered upon a legal marriage. Children from that union are, therefore, their legitimate offspring. Legitimate means “legal.” The civil divorce and the Church annulment do not alter this situation. Nor do they change the parents’ responsibility toward the children. In fact, during annulment procedures the Church reminds petitioners of their moral obligation to provide for the proper upbringing of their children. Nevertheless, persons pondering the Catholic annulment process do often express this concern about the legitimacy of the children after that procedure. It’s a persistent rumor.
I certainly do agree with you, though, that the annulment of a 27 year marriage, with children, is pretty fishy... like many other political annulments. Nonetheless, I have yet to see a Catholic authority stating that the children are illegitimate after an annulment. I think whether Kerry, Kennedy, et. al., should have gotten an annulment is another issue entirely and I suspect most posters on these threads would agree on that point.
Problem is the Catholic church backing the process.
You can no more annul part of a family than you can be a little bit pregnant.
It's a farce to squeeze cash.
Although Trick may have been a little, uh, crude in the way he stated it, I do wonder about the status of the girls. An 'annulment' means the marriage never existed. So what would the status of the two girls be as far as the RC is concerned? I don't know.
Almost sounds to me like there's no sense is bothering with a 'church annulment' at all. I thought these things were almost impossible to get. Doesn't seem like they are all that difficult.
Ah... the Thorne family. I heard that had a bit of trouble with that Damian kid.
Yes, I do remember that. Good catch.
Sadly, the process is very long and drawn out for most people and requires quite a bit of paperwork. If one perserveres and does the work, I think the chances of success are quite good... but many people give up, particularly people who are intimidated by the paperwork and process. And in my experience, the "advocate" (parish priest who is supposed to assist) often does not offer much help.
And her twin brother just sticks to Kerry. I don't get it.
Handsome????? Handsome??????
Someone needs glasses!
Could they have stopped in Jamaica and had a real honeymoon after doing business in Paris?
"Thorne told McLellan that she was never comfortable with the pretense demanded by politics. “When John won the primaries for the lieutenant governorship of Massachusetts, we went to do our publicity photographs with Kitty and Mike Dukakis,” Thorne recalled. “Kitty had just come out of a rehab center, and I had just asked John for a separation—and here we were, living these enormous lies. We had to live those lies for the whole campaign.”
Times have not changed
Well, if he was doing 'business' in Paris, he wasn't on his honeymoon.
She was alos wealthy and her brother, a college friend and big Kerry supporter,introduced them.
He said IIRC that he and Julia spent their honeymoon in Paris and he met with communist leaders while there. I consider that business. I was just wondering if, as a nod to his bride, that he then took her on a real honeymoon and stopped in Jamaica on the way home. Before we accuse him of lying (which I realize he does without blinking), all possibilities should be considered.
I knew her name is Julia Thorne before I even opened the thread. Do I win something?
Who was Kerry's first wife? Significantly poorer.
Nothing wrong with Ricky's statement. Annulment makes it as if the marriage never were, so any children therefrom are indeed illegitimate.
Dear trickyricky,
I wish there were somewhere on FR where frequently-asked-and-answered questions could be posted.
Legitimacy is a civil matter. If you are legally civilly married when you have your children, your children are legally legitimate.
Annulment relates to sacramental matters in the Catholic Church. When issuing a decree of nullity (not an "annulment") the Church is stating that a particular marriage did not possess a sacramental nature. It has nothing to do with the legal, civil status of the marriage. In fact, the entire process of "annulments" presupposes a legal, civil marriage.
sitetest
I'm with you on the RCC,
If you want a great book on the annulment process read "Shattered Faith" by Sheila Rauch Kennedy,Joe Kennedy's former wife.
It's a real eye opener.
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