Annulment--basically an agreement that the first marriage never really happened? RFK's son Joe Kennedy (former
Congressman from JFK's former district) had an annulment from his first wife, Sheila Rauch, IIRC
from New Republic, by Michael Crowley:
"So, at this point in his life, the very last thing Joe Kennedy needed was what he got this spring, the publication of "Shattered Faith," a new book by his ex-wife, Sheila Rauch Kennedy, telling the world that the Catholic Church invalidated her 12-year marriage to Joe on the grounds that he lacked the "due discretion" to have married her -- which is to say that Joe didn't possess the elementary judgment to be trusted with the most basic decision of his life."
from Wikipedia, again:
"Marriages that are annulled under the Catholic Church are usually considered as ab initio, meaning that the marriage has been essentially invalid from the beginning. Some Catholics therefore worry that their children will be considered illegitimate if they get an annulment. However, Canon 1137 of the Code of Canon Law specifically affirms the legitimacy of children born in both recognized and putative marriages (those later declared null). Critics point to this as additional evidence that a Catholic annulment is similar to divorce.
"An annulment verified by the Catholic Church is independent from obtaining a civil divorce, although before beginning a process in front of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, it has to be clear that the marriage community cannot be rebuilt.
"If someone has all the signs of being married previously, he or she must get an annulment before entering into a marriage in the Catholic Church, even if the individual was not married in the Catholic Church previously."
Don't be fooled. Sheila Rauch Kennedy and and Julia Kerry were both liberals who felt that divorced Catholics should be allowed to remarry without annulments. Julia wrote in the foreword to Sheila's book that she supports her ex-husband's annulment only so he could receive the sacraments, but she's against the idea of annulments. Sheila Kennedy also spoke at a Call to Action conference.