c. 1996 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) After his divorce and before he remarried in the Roman Catholic Church, Joseph DeCastra of Hoover, Ala., applied for an annulment and got it in less than a year.

His was one of more than 59,000 U.S. annulments and 76,829 worldwide in 1992 _ a stark contrast to the early 1960s, when U.S. Catholic marriage tribunals considered about 300 applications for annulment a year, granting 60 percent, according to the 1966 Catholic Almanac.

“The church has gone through a transformation,” DeCastra said. For him, annulment meant he could remarry in the church after a divorce. Divorced Catholics who follow church procedures regarding the dissolution of a marriage can be embraced as full participants by the church rather than shunned or marginalized.

Roman Catholics through the years have suffered much confusion over annulment _ the process of having church officials declare a marriage sacramentally invalid.

Annulment does not mean that a couple was never married _ the civil recognition of the marriage still stands. And children born during a marriage that was later annulled are not considered illegitimate. But getting an annulment allows a Catholic to remarry in a church ceremony.

“There’s so much myth surrounding annulment in the Catholic Church,” said Barbara Bess, director of religious education at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Birmingham, Ala. “We’re trying to debunk some of that.”

Sister Marilyn Vassallo and Sister Lynn McKenzie work at the marriage tribunal for the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham. Since last fall they have been traveling from church to church, holding workshops to explain the process that often affects non-Catholics as well. In some cases, non-Catholic marriages may be annulled, allowing converts to marry in the Catholic Church. In some cases, non-Catholic witnesses may be called.

“Most of our cases involve non-Catholics, which surprises a lot of people,” said Sister Lynn, a University of Alabama Law School graduate and partner in the law firm of Knight and Griffith in Cullman, Ala.

Sister Lynn serves as defender of the bond of marriage for the tribunal. “I represent the church,” she said. “I’m actually standing for the church’s position for defending the sacredness of marriage.”

In each case, witnesses _ including ex-spouses _ are called and asked to testify or make written statements, regardless of whether they are Catholic. Ex-spouses are allowed to defend themselves from accusations that they were irresponsible or had traits that made them too immature to have gotten married when they did. Tribunal judges examine the emotional state of the couple at the time of the marriage and make a determination of whether they should have been allowed to marry, or whether they were ready to marry. Personality tests are a standard requirement of the annulment process.

“We use modern psychology now to look at the person’s understanding of what marriage is and their ability to fulfill the obligations of marriage,” Sister Lynn said.

The Second Vatican Council in 1962-65 set in motion changes in the annulment process that made it easier to get an annulment.

“In the past, there were a lot of bad feelings,” said Sister Marilyn, an associate judge for the marriage tribunal of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham. “It was not a positive experience.”

Now, most applications for annulment are granted.

“The most important part for me was the healing peace,” said Maureen Krison, who was granted an annulment five years ago. She had been divorced three years before she applied for the annulment. “It is a healing process.”

But she advised recently divorced Catholics to apply for an annulment soon, rather than waiting until they meet someone and start thinking about having a church wedding. The process can take more than a year _ in her case, it took two years.

Shara Falkner, who was divorced after 22 years and sought an annulment, waited 18 months for her annulment to come through in 1993. She said she was disappointed by the legalism of the process.

“It was a harsh, cold letter,” she said. But she said it brought her a sense of redemption with the church and closure with her divorce.

“My marriage to my ex-husband was not sacramental,” she said. “I no longer had to wear a big `D’ (divorce) on my back. Now I’m a single person.”

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

For years, most Catholics who had divorces were stigmatized and unable to remarry. By granting annulments more liberally, the church hoped to restore more Catholics to full participation in the church.

“We’re trying to bring people back into the fold,” Sister Lynn said.

Pope John Paul II has at times expressed concern about the large number of annulments granted in the United States and urged more caution in the process of declaring church marriages sacramentally invalid.

In 1993, the most recent year for which U.S. statistics are available, American Catholics were granted 53,652 annulments, the majority of the 70,478 granted in the world. That was down from a peak in 1991 of 63,933 U.S. annulments, again a majority of the 79,067 annulments granted in the world.

While those who have had annulments often find them a legalistic hurdle to clear, they are an important liturgical element of the church in restoring divorced people, Krison said.

“Ultimately, it’s between self and God,” she said, adding that having an annulment is important for divorced Catholics. “I want to be a total participant in my faith,” she said.

END GARRISON