Catholic Definition of Annulment

• In the Catholic Church, an annulment is not another name for a divorce, that is, the breaking apart of an existing contract. Instead, by attempting to initiate annulment proceedings, a couple is requesting that the church look into the marriage and the relationship that existed prior to the wedding in order to assess whether there was some circumstance that prevented the marriage from being a true covenant at the time that it was conducted. In other words, an annulment in the Catholic tradition does not end a marriage; rather, it establishes that, because of outside factors, a "true" marriage never actually occurred.
  
  

Lack of Maturity or Commitment

• One possible means of asserting that a marriage was not "valid," according to the Catholic Church, is to determine that a lack of maturity or true commitment to the relationship was present when the marriage first began. This can be established through something as simple as the young age of the couple at the time of their marriage or a general "psychological incapacity" to understand and abide by the full expectations of married life.
  
  

Outside Pressure

• A marriage can also be annulled due to an assertion that some outside pressure was partially in play with regard to the couple's decision to get married. For example, if a marriage was decided upon because the woman became pregnant, it might be determined that a true commitment to lifelong love was not the motive of the relationship, thus nullifying the marriage. Another qualifying factor that could fit into this category would be any drug use by either spouse at the time of the marriage, which could imply a decision made without all of one's faculties being aware.
  
  

Additional Factors

• The Catholic Church's list of possible reasons to grant an annulment includes some obvious factors, such as infidelity that continued throughout the marriage, bigamy and incest. There are also a few more church-specific rationales. As Catholicism claims to value children as the fruit of a marriage, any marriage in which one partner or the other expresses no interest in having children or is unwilling or unable to have sexual intercourse is also eligible for a possible annulment.
  
  

Rationale for Getting an Annulment

• A Catholic must obtain an annulment of their first marriage by the church in order to be remarried within the church. Failure to annul a previous marriage after a divorce or remarriage outside of the church without seeking an annulment can separate a Catholic from the full sacramental life of the church, often denying the Eucharist to the person in question.