Why would I ask my brother in law if HE thinks he’s ‘living in sin?’ He didn’t think he was ‘living in sin’ with my sister, until he got along in the conversion process and was told he was, at least ‘in the eyes of the church.’ While he is now a Catholic, he’s hardly an authority on all its rules and regulations. So that wouldn’t answer my question, would it?
My question was relating to ‘in the eyes of the church.’ How does one who divorces civilly and remarries civilly ever become released from ‘living in sin’ and become considered married ‘in the eyes of the church?’
If one person who is seeking to convert to the Catholic Church, who’s been married in one (non-Catholic) church, and divorces, and who then remarries civilly, is told that he cannot convert because ‘in the eyes of the church’ he is still married to the person he married in the non-catholic church, and is thus ‘living in sin’ with the woman he married civilly, why would that NOT related to someone in virtually identical circumstances?
My brother in law was allowed to convert ONLY because the woman he was ‘living in sin’ with died. So far as I know, neither of Newt’s former wives has passed away, nor has he gotten either prior marriage annulled. Tho, I suppose, his second marriage wasn’t legitimate ‘in the eyes of the Church’ either. So, once again, the question remains: a) how was Newt admitted to membership in the Catholic Church; and, b) were Newt and Callista Gingrich married in the Catholic Church and, if so, HOW?
I’d like an authoritative answer, not some b!tching because my legitimate question was inferred as an attack on the Gingriches. Or the Church. Whichever. Personally, I have nothing but respect for the Catholic Church (if not all its clergy and members) and am currently supporting Gingrich in the GOP primaries. So you can take that off the table.
I just want to know why my brother in law was to be denied membership in the Church, absent the death of my sister, while someone else with a virtually identical history, i.e., Gingrich, was allowed to convert and possibly married in and recognized as married ‘in the eyes of the church,’ if, in fact, he is.
You can always start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annulment_(Catholic_Church)
Since wikipedia may or may not be accurate, you can always check with a competent marriage tribunal attorney.
And truth be told, we have no way of knowing what the Gingrich’s actual spiritual circumstances are. Presumably, that is between them and the Church. Same with your brother in law.