[southernbychoice]

Is it still the case that they should not receive communion? My father's marriage to my mother has never been annulled, yet he and his new wife joined a parish, and receive communion every week.

[eastsider]

The practice is rampant (it goes on in my own family, too), but it's still wrong.

[SoothingDave]

Is it still the case that they should not receive communion? My father's marriage to my mother has never been annulled, yet he and his new wife joined a parish, and receive communion every week.

If the first marriage was not annulled, then he is still married to your mother. In which case his "new wife" is not his wife at all.

That's called "adultery," and people engaged in it are in a state of mortal sin. Taking communion in a state of sin is forbidden.

SD

[Bigg Red]

Is it still the case that they should not receive communion?

When someone remarries in the Catholic Church, there must have been an annulment of the previous marriage if that first marriage was a religious ceremony. Otherwise, the marriage is not valid in the eyes of the Church and, therefore, the party is precluded from receiving the sacraments.

[Conservative til I die]

I am not too sure, and feel free to look it up on the net, but I believe if you're divorced it would still be OK to get Communion assuming you were in a state of grace, since the Church would still consider you married (since the remarriage would be considered adultery), but if you remarry without the annulment and you get Communion you are in majorly deep doo doo.