Yes, in the case of adultery and abandonment there will have to be an annulment process. And yes, it is frustrating at times, and yes it is difficult, but it shouldn’t be easy. And no, there is no guarantee that an annulment will be granted even under those circumstances, if neither spouse had a ‘defect’ which made the vows untruthful or made them otherwise incapable of entering into a sacramental union at the time of the marriage.
The actions that happen after the vows are not by themselves proof of invalidity, but again, at some point one spouse decided that marriage was not permanent or didn’t require fidelity to the spouse, so annulment will try to determine if that state of mind was present at the vows or not.
Also, not every marriage where there is infidelity or even temporary abandonment is hopeless, some people are able to reconcile, so automatically declaring a marriage ended because of these things doesn’t always make sense.
If there is not a formal process by the church in which a person is married, how else is a church marriage ended? Can anyone simply say, ‘my spouse cheated so now I am no longer married’? What if the cheating spouse truly regrets what happened and wants to reconcile? Who arbitrates? Does a civil divorce end church marriages? Are Christian marriages no different than civil marriages? As a Catholic, I can’t imagine a less formal way of dealing with this which would not be extremely inconsistent and confusing.
Love,
O2