What's the difference between divorce and annulment?

Since Matrimony is a sacrament given by Christ to his Church, the Church has the authority to determine if a marriage is valid or not based on a set of criteria: the spouses were free to marry, they freely exchanged their consent, they had the intention to marry for life, to be faithful to one another and be open to children; and their consent was given in the presence of two witnesses and before a properly authorized Church minister. Without these criteria being met, a marriage is not valid. So an annulment is when the Church has decided this marriage was never valid to begin with.

The Sacrament of Marriage is something we don’t enter into passively or without careful consideration. Because in Matrimony, man and woman are called to the love and union of spouses that reflects the life of the Trinity.

Learn more about Marriage with these videos from Real+True:
https://www.realtrue.org/units/marriage/

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We believe the Catechism is not a textbook, a collection of ideas, or a set of rules. We believe it is the faithful echo of a God who desires to reveal himself to us. The mission of Real+True is to retransform the catechism into a living voice for the modern world. We’re creating videos, stories, animations, podcasts, to unpack and unlock the catechism of the catholic church for the modern world. All these videos are free, and translated into multiple languages for the world.

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