THE CATHOLIC ANNULMENT

(Declaration of Invalidity)

The Catholic Church views marriage as a convenant for life that cannot be severed.  Some marriages, however, are entered into lacking the necessary maturity or full knowledge, ability and commitment to enter into a permanent union.  Sometimes free will is hindered due to external pressures.  A person has the right to petition the Tribunal to look at his/her previous marriage to determine whether it was a valid marriage according to the laws of the Church.

A declaration of invalidity states that the marriage bond was less than a convenant for life because it was lacking something from the very beginning.  Either, or both parties, may have entered the marriage with good intentions, but lacked an essential element for a valid marriage.  These elements are openness to children, honesty, maturity, free choice, motivation, emotional stability and/or capacity to establish a community to life and love according to the teachings of the Church.