“NO it is a certification that a valid sacramental marriage did not occur.”
So then, for the sake of argument, what you are saying indirectly, is that the only way one can know you have a true sacramental marriage is to have had the marriage sacrament and subsequently sought and been denied an annulment, thereby confirming that the sacrament actually occurred.
Otherwise you have know actual way of knowing if your marriage is of the sacramental variety.
I think this may postpone a lot of honeymoons!
Annulment is an earthly construct.
Annulment is an earthly construct.
The sacraments are a divine construct. If you have not met all four criteria for a sacrament to occur than you might as well be engaging in a play. It may be moving or emotionally satisfying but nothing divine has occurred. If the first three criteria are met than it is up to the couple as afar as that goes and they know what is in their respective hearts.
So no an annulment is not an earthly construct, it is a formalization that the event did not occur as prescribed.