Which is why the Church has become so unable to deal with the other moral declines. The plank in thy own eye.
Wow! Who cares?
It is very difficult for a Catholic marriage to be invalid and thus annulable, that is why there were only 35 to 50 per year WORLDWIDE, numerically speaking, practicallly NONE. Quick examples as grounds for annulment:
A shotgun wedding, where one or both are forced to marry against their will (there’s was a time limit. One couldn’t come 10 years and 6 children later, and say they were coerced)
One party or both were previously married in the Church, and did not disclose it
The marriage was never consumated
One of the parties hid his decision to not have children.
Is it like when Mormons Baptize the dead?
A few years ago, I read a book on this topic, Shattered Faith, by Sheila Rauch Kennedy, ex-wife of Joe Kennedy II (RFK’s oldest son). He wanted an annulment so he could remarry in the Catholic Church. Though not Catholic herself, she opposed it, taking the position that their marriage had been valid even though it ultimately failed. He won every step of the way in the process until she appealed to Rome, which sided with her and held that the marriage was valid. In the meantime, I believe that the diocese they were in went ahead and allowed him to remarry. I reckon Rome’s decision rendered Joe’s second union invalid (or never valid at all).
Give me your thoughts.
A young couple marry in the Church. They go through marriage preparation, listen to the priest(s) about marriage etc.
But they privately agree to use artificial contraception from the first day of their marriage.
Is this a sacramentally valid marriage?
What happens when, five years later, one of the two young folks realizes that what they're doing is wrong, and tries to bring his/her spouse to repentance, but fails?
sitetest
Even if the Church granted the annulment for improper or nebulous reasons, as long as the petitioners for annulments did not lie and obtain it under false pretenses, the annulments would be valid. No matter how sinful a priest may be, he doesn't lose his priestly abilities unless he is officially laicized. The fault is with those who too freely grant annulments, but the annulments remain valid.This is not to say that many don't lie. For them, the annulment would be invalid, and they will have to answer for it.
You wrote:
“There were between 35-50 annulments WORLDWIDE prior to Vatican II.”
Incorrect. There were actually routinely a few hundred every year in the USA alone before Vatican II.
“From there forward annulments in the USA ALONE got up to like 90,000 per year.”
I’m not so sure about that since the number in 1990 was 62,824
“If the USA had never existed, there would be almost no annulments world wide, as it use to be. what are the odds that the USA annulments are valid 10 in 60,000?”
The odds are excellent. The simple fact is that the marriage prep until recently (and, sadly in many places still today) was horrible.
“All those Catholics who received invalid annulments, if they re-married, are living in adultery.”
Not knowingly and therefore there would be no culpability. The real issue is are those invalid. And the answer is, NO.
Ping