Hi, Steve --

The kind of situation you describe isn't unusual at all.

As part of the process for validating a current civil marriage, any previous marriage of either party will have to be examined and investigated, at least.

That's part of Church law (canon 1085), and it applies in all cases, even if the previous marriage was only civil, or involved only the non-Catholic partner of a mixed marriage, as in the case you describe.

If the investigation shows a reason why that prior marriage was invalid, as often is the case, it will be declared null. That's an annulment: a "declaration of nullity" of the previous marriage.

The Boston Catholic newspaper, the _Pilot_, published a useful explanation of annulments a few months ago, by a judge from the Church court here. The full series of ten articles is on the web, at:

http://www.rcab.org/Information/Annulment/marriage.html

so that's a good source for further information. The last of the articles is a summary that tries to correct the common misunderstandings: example: that annulments cost a lot, that they take forever, and so on.

Of course, a couple in the situation you describe above will want to get in touch with the local Catholic pastor as part of validating the marriage. He'll be able to guide the couple through the procedure of having the first marriage examined.

Hope that helps!

Best wishes, and God bless --

Richard Chonak