[cryptomc]

Unlike the Kennedys, they don't have the money to "donate" to the Church. case in point - Joeseph Kennedy's marriage was "annulled" after he already had 4 or 5 kids. Of course because of that, in the eyes of the Church, his kids are now bastards. Well, we all know the Kennedys are bastards anyway :-)

[sitetest]

Dear cryptomc,

* sigh *

So many errors, so little time.

First, I'm sure that plenty of these excommunicated researchers are quite wealthy by this point. I've known folks who did academic scientific research, and the top guys often do well.

I worked in a research lab for a few years, and the top guy, aged 35 or so, was already a full professor, with a comfortable salary, got a salary from each research grant he brought in, was on the boards of directors of a few companies that commercialized his research, with salaries and stock options attendant, owned a fancy house in a fancy section of Washington, DC, drove a BMW, and was married to a professor at another local university, doing nearly as well.

Thus, if one could buy one's way out of an excommunication, these folks likely would have the means.

Second, Joseph Kennedy received nothing from the Church that thousands of other Catholics receive every year, usually for a cost of about $400 (in the United States), which covers the actual expenses of the marriage tribunal. If a party requires a great deal of time of a canon lawyer, that can increase the cost, just as a bitterly contested divorce can cost a lot more than an uncontested divorce.

However, in most cases, the grounds for annulment are pretty straightforward, and although the process is usually very time-consuming and emotionally draining, a knowledgeable priest can foresee the potential for success of an application for a declaration of nullity near the start of the process.

As to the status of children after annulment, this has been raised and dismissed so many times on FR that if I had a dime for each time it's come up, I'd be retired by now. A declaration of nullity means that no SACRAMENTAL marriage occurred. It says nothing about LEGAL marriage. Legal marriage is about the laws of the civil government. Legitimacy of children derives from the civil law.

The children of couples who obtain a declaration of nullity for their SACRAMENTAL marriage are still the legitimate issue of their parents from their civil marriage.


sitetest

[G Larry]

"Of course because of that, in the eyes of the Church, his kids are now bastards."

You're pretty ignorant of the Catholic Church position on this aren't you!

[Mrs. Don-o]

• "Bastard" is not a Catholic or canonical category. Look it up.

• The number of kids you've had has nothing to do with the sacramental validity of a marriage. Shawn Kemp and other elite athletes fathered dozens of children; that doesn't make them sacramentally married to the children's mother(s)

• a "finding of nulltity" involves an investigation to determine whether the conditions for making a valid vow were present or absent. If one party was drunk, on drugs, crazy, very immature, engaged in fraud or deception, or had no intent to fulfill the requirements of the vow--- in other words, no intention of committing to a faithful lifelong marriage --- then the vow was defective.

  No vow, no Sacrament.

  This has no necessary impact on a civil marriage, which may still exist.

[Arthur McGowan]

Of course because of that, in the eyes of the Church, his kids are now bastards.

This canard is simply, utterly false. An annulment in no way illegitimizes the children born in the annulled marriage. Kennedy's ex repeated this lie countless times when she was promoting her book about her annulment.