Monday morning answers - Who was Kerry's first wife?

Bristol Herald Courier (TN) ^ | 10-25-04 | BY LEE DAVENPORT

[trickyricky]

Well they sure felt like bastards, according to them.
Their father left their mother after having a half dozen kids with her.
He hooked up with some tootsie, and being a very religious man
decided he would do the right thing and have his marriage annulled,
so that he could marry this woman in the so-called "church".
Now I can understand if a marriage has never been consummated,
how the RCC could annul the ritual, but this situation, like Kerry's, is barbaric.

[SuziQ]

Now I can understand if a marriage has never been consummated, how the RCC could annul the ritual, but this situation, like Kerry's, is barbaric.

Therein lies your confusion. Marriage in the Church is not a 'ritual' it is a SACRAMENT. It is there to cement the covenant between husband and wife. If either party is not committed to the covenant, or is not prepared mentally to take on the responsibility, and doesn't live up to his or her vows, that Sacrament is not valid. It doesn't mean that the marriage contract was not legal, and to dissolve it, the couple has to go through a legal procedure, paying for lawyers, etc.

In the Church, there are Canon Law procedures which, through investigation, find out whether or not the Sacrament was valid by interviewing the couple, family members and friends.

I'm sorry your friend felt as he did. Who put that idea in his mind? I don't think it is something a child would come up with on his own. His dad sounds like a real jerk.

[trickyricky]

These weren't children. The old dog did this when they were in their teens and twenties.
I guess should have said "sacramental rite" for the RCC.
Anyway, this hypocrite had a marriage of twenty-some years annulled
so that he could remarry his girlfriend.
He was a very big contributor to his local diocese
which says to me "Money talks and BS walks".
His annulment zipped through lickety split.
I know all the other Christian denominations have their scandals, but I don't know
of many that are institutionalized like the RCC.
Annulments and Indulgences being prime examples.

[SuziQ]

Annulments and Indulgences being prime examples.

I don't know that particular family's history, so I can't say, and neither can you, that he 'bought' his annulment. I'm not going to say there aren't abuses, because I'm sure there are, but they are NOT the norm.

Your comment about indulgences only shows how much you've bought into anti-Catholicism.