Nicole Kidman's marriage to Tom Cruise wasn't real says Catholic Church

twitchy · June 26th, 2006, 10:32 AM

How did Nicole Kidman re-marry in a Catholic church?

WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...

How did Nicole Kidman, one-time spouse of Tom Cruise, get re-married in a Catholic church if she didn't have an annulment? Clue: she wasn't actually married before.

Nicole Kidman's wedding to country singer Keith Urban in Sydney at the weekend drew plenty of media attention.

But some Catholics will have looked on perplexed at how the former bride of actor Tom Cruise managed to tie the knot for a second time, in a Catholic church.

It was widely reported in the run up to the weekend wedding that Ms Kidman had received an annulment for her previous marriage - the Catholic Church's procedure for allowing a follower to wed again.

Father Paul Coleman, who conducted the latest nuptials, was said to have advised the Oscar-winning actress on the dissolution.

In fact, Kidman didn't need an annulment for one simple reason: in the eyes of the Catholic Church her 10-year union with Tom Cruise, a renowned Scientologist, never happened.

The original wedding was performed in the Church of Scientology and wasn't recognised by the Catholic faith.

The divorce granted to the couple in 2001 was a legal rather than religious procedure for Kidman.

So Kidman would only have had to have obtained a licence from the Catholic Church saying that she was legally free to marry and that the Church had not recognised her first marriage.

"The Catholic Church sets down requirements to have a valid Catholic marriage. In the case of Nicole's first marriage, those requirements were not fulfilled," said Father Coleman, who married Kidman and Urban.
Kidman had dabbled with Scientology and Father Coleman talked of her Catholic wedding in terms of a spiritual homecoming.

Annulment is, nevertheless, controversial in some Catholic circles. How can the Church rule a marriage never really happened, especially if it's been a long one and generated children?

The Catholic Church began to make annulments easier to get in the 1970s, adding a category of "psychological grounds", which includes "lack of due discretion" - in other words, an applicant might claim they'd not fully appreciated the responsibilities of marriage.

Today, this category - which also takes in "psychological incapacity assuming the obligations" - is the main grounds upon which annulments are granted.

Lack of due discretion centres on the question of what it is that couples are consenting to when they agree to marry.

Priests say considering a petition for annulment on such grounds is very complex - and requests for annulments are often turned down (in which case an applicant cannot remarry in a Catholic church).

While many in the Church argue priests should be trying to discern a "grave" lack of discretion, some argue that priests, particularly those in the US, are too easy.

According to the Holy See, 43,153 straightforward annulments were granted worldwide, almost 29,000 of which were issued in north America in 2003. This compares with 511 in Great Britain and 304 across Ireland. Many of these were later overturned by the Vatican.

Rome has long been concerned that priests in the US are handing out too many annulments.

The Vatican argues that American culture demands maximum self-fulfilment and that includes what can be expected from a marriage. As a result, more annulments are granted in the US, leaving Rome worried that the Americans are, essentially, letting divorce in through the back door.

For Kidman, however, such difficult questions never needed to be answered.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5107086.stm

LynnieD · June 26th, 2006, 10:33 AM

Um....ok. I don't get the Catholic stuff....

darksithbunny · June 26th, 2006, 10:46 AM

Amen! heehee.

sluce · June 26th, 2006, 10:48 AM

I thought the Cathloic Church would galdly grant an annulment as long as you paid all the required fees.

Lakesweetjane · June 26th, 2006, 10:49 AM

Wow, she must be so relieved! True or not!
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Laurent · June 26th, 2006, 10:50 AM

I figured the reason Kidman/Cruise marriage wasn't real was failure to consumate.

Bellatheball · June 26th, 2006, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sluce

I thought the Cathloic Church would galdly grant an annulment as long as you paid all the required fees.

LOL, actually that's not true at all. The Catholic Church doesn't make it easy to get an annulment because they don't think it should be easy. I can't disagree. If more people invested time into getting to know their potiental life mate and made a committment to working out problems, marriage wouldn't be looked at as disposable.

sluce · June 26th, 2006, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bellatheball

LOL, actually that's not true at all. The Catholic Church doesn't make it easy to get an annulment because they don't think it should be easy. I can't disagree. If more people invested time into getting to know their potiental life mate and made a committment to working out problems, marriage wouldn't be looked at as disposable.

I have 3 friends who all got their annulments with no problem at all. They filled out the paperwork, got their ex's to agree and paid the fees. They then went on to remarry in the church again. It bothers me because all 3 have kids with their first spouses. Now in the eyes of the church they were never married so are the kids legitimate in the eyes of the church. How does that work?

SlimandSexxy · June 26th, 2006, 11:42 AM

Catholicism NEVER fails to confuse me.

Bellatheball · June 26th, 2006, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sluce

I have 3 friends who all got their annulments with no problem at all. They filled out the paperwork, got their ex's to agree and paid the fees. They then went on to remarry in the church again. It bothers me because all 3 have kids with their first spouses. Now in the eyes of the church they were never married so are the kids legitimate in the eyes of the church. How does that work?

I'm a bit surpised at that to be truthful. Your question is a good one though. Slim, although I know you meant your comment to be tongue in cheek, there is a great book out there called Catholicism for Dummies that helps to make a lot of sense of the rules.

nana55 · June 26th, 2006, 12:02 PM

My brother and sister-in-law also had their marriage annulled. They were married for 10 years with one child. They seperated once and had another "commitment ceremony". The church still granted their annulment.

Karizma · June 26th, 2006, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bellatheball

LOL, actually that's not true at all. The Catholic Church doesn't make it easy to get an annulment because they don't think it should be easy. I can't disagree. If more people invested time into getting to know their potiental life mate and made a committment to working out problems, marriage wouldn't be looked at as disposable.

But in religious perspective, how can (knowing your potential life-mate) that be possible when things such as living together is forbidden?

PrettyGirl · June 26th, 2006, 12:26 PM

Why would she need an annulment in the Catholic faith if she and Cruise married through Scientology? Scientology isn't Christian is it? They weren't united in Christ through Scientology. It makes sense to me. They had a civil marriage, a civil divorce and that's enough. An annulment wasn't neccessary.

KIMU · June 26th, 2006, 12:45 PM

^ Exactly....

They were married by that cult, and Catholics dont count this as a marriage.
They dont count legal marriages either.

Bellatheball · June 26th, 2006, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karizma

But in religious perspective, how can (knowing your potential life-mate) that be possible when things such as living together is forbidden?

You're saying people should live together in order to determine if they should marry? You don't think two people can get to know one another without living together? Really, now? My husband and I knew each other for more than a decade before getting married. I can promise you, I knew him better than even his parents before we were married. I'm sure you'll find a whole host of others who've done it as well. I do personally think if more couples spent time dating and less time developing a physical relationship (right off the bat) and worrying about who will live with whom, relationships would generally do better. I'm sure I'll get flamed for that but I'm old fashioned, I can take it.

Kari, you never fail to amaze me with your contridictions. You go on and on about living a straight laced life and you come out with this stuff? Shaking head.