[PrettyGirl]

Oh, this is perfect for me. I just got done with an entire year of catechism. Also, I was engaged at one time. My former fiance had been married before too.

A lot of it depends on the Diocese you're from, just how 'strict' they want to be, but officially, a person who has been married before (such as my ex fiance was and Nicole Kidman was) were married in a civil ceremony. They were never married through the Catholic Church, therefore, an annulment through the Vatican is not neccessary. But, you do need to provide legal 'proof' that you are indeed divorced now.

Now, here's the 'catch'...even if you were never married through the Catholic church, if you were married in ANY faith where Christ's name was used and you were supposedly united in the name of Christ in whatever faith that was (Baptist, Methodist, etc..), your parish and/or Diocese will request further info. You may need to get 'permission' from the Bishop or Vatican to get married in the Catholic Church. In the Church's eyes, if you have been united in marriage by Christ period, you can not 'void' that unification and marry in another faith. In other words, the Church won't re-marry you even if you weren't united in marriage in their Church...if the person (or church) who married you the last time used the name of Christ in any way, that previous marriage needs to be annuled.

Same thing in baptism. If you were baptised in ANY OTHER Christian faith and Christ's name was used, the Catholic Church will not 're-baptise' you when you convert over to Catholicism (if you choose to do so). It is the Church's belief that once you are baptised (or in this case married anywhere) in the name of Christ, that's it--it's a holy covenant.

When my ex-fiancee disclosed that he was divorced, they wanted to know FOR SURE that it was just a civil ceremony. They wanted proof of where he had been married and they wanted to know by whom. I don't think Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman were ever married in any sort of spiritual ceremony, therefore, I don't believe an annulment would be neccessary. I think the majority of this article above is hoopla--they want to make controversy when there is none. They married in a civil ceremony and if Nicole should ever wish to re-marry in the Catholic Church, all she would need to show is a divorce decree--that's if the man she's marrying didn't have any prior Christian marriages either.