Annulment Defendant’s Journey, 30 June 2025

Mark Feliz and I spoke with “Marie” who shared her annulment journey.  Marie is upholding the validity of her marriage against an accusation of nullity made by her husband. After 12 years of marriage, Marie admitted to her husband that she had gotten herself entangled in an adulterous relationship. We discussed the Church’s canon law about grounds for separation of spouses.   At the time her husband learned of the adultery, he did have (for a six-month time) the option to be permanently separated. However, since her husband agreed (after a short separation) to restore their intact home, Marie thought she was through the worst of it, and they were going to work on their marriage.

None-the-less, after a year of unification, the husband announced that he wanted a divorce, and he had found a different woman to be his girlfriend.  Marie tells how she was notified by the local Tribunal that her husband petitioned for an annulment.  She learned at the beginning that her husband was accusing her of being unfaithful for the duration of the marriage, which she argues is unfounded. She admits she had an affair 12 years after marriage, but she remembers being committed to fidelity when she was married.

There is a big difference between deliberately deceiving her fiancé into believing she intended fidelity, and having a moral lapse twelve years later.

Marie was disheartened that the Tribunal would not let her make and keep any of her own handwritten notes when she inspected the testimony.  She’s also disheartened that the tribunal would not allow her to mandate for herself a canon law expert (a.k.a. advocate) unless she designated the person to be her alter-ego also (a.k.a. procurator).  The Tribunal put her under a constraint beyond the law, when they would not let her have her own copy of the full definite sentence unless she took an oath of secrecy.

The local Tribunal decided her marriage was invalid and she appealed to the Roman Rota. She hopes the Rota overturns the local Tribunal’s annulment and her husband decides to reconcile.