[Buckeye McFrog]

dirty little secret....those with connections and money can generally get an annulment, even under iffy circumstances.

[raybbr]

dirty little secret....those with connections and money can generally get an annulment, even under iffy circumstances.

Yes, I know. It happened to me. I filed for an annulment and waited and waited and waited. Nothing. I didn't have any money at the time and waited.

About six months after the priest I was "working" with supposedly filed the paperwork I got a letter from the Diocese. It said my ex was filing for an annulment (after I supposedly did) and would I like to participate? I sent a copy of all the stuff I gave to the priest and four weeks later I got the annulment.

My ex's family was/is loaded.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Yeah. Like Henry VIII. Uh, perhaps you're talking about modern times. Surely the Vatican would never overrule a Kennedy petitioner's divorce. (Oops. Joe and Sheila.)

I will agree that the present canonical situation in the USA is a hell of a mess. But it's not because of connections and money (ask Joe Kennedy.) It's because anyone with a $300 annulment filing fee -- or down to $0 if you're poor --- can generally get an annulment if they're willing to perjure themselves and claim psychological incapacity at the time of the vows.

But it escapes me what the Church could do about that. Maybe Cardinal Kasper will tell us.

:o/

:o/