恶人谷

How did Nicole Kidman re-marry in a Catholic church?
WHO, WHAT, WHY?
The Magazine answers...


The bride arriving at St Patrick's College in Sydney
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.


WHO, WHAT, WHY?

A feature to the BBC News Magazine - aiming to answer some of the questions behind the headlines
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.

Not recognised

"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.


The Vatican is unhappy about annulment rates in the US
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.

Complex

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.

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.

Jun wrote:

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.

BBC could have used a better editor...

花差花差小将军 wrote:Here, here


Tang Xiaowan, 25, who has been practising swordsmanship since she was young, had often held her husband at the point of a sword and forced him to carry out her demands, police said. On March 3, the sword slipped, fatally stabbing her husband.

Jun wrote:It is sufficient to say:

So Kidman would only have had to obtain a license...

danni wrote: 正是所谓的白金镶钻，一共279颗。

Jun wrote:Talk about Jolie, did you guys see the CNN program Anderson Cooper 360 last week? Cooper and Jolie, 2 ridiculously good-looking and privileged and rich celebrities sitting together and chatting about saving Africa as if this was some kind of an exclusive social club and they were exchanging gossips about a friend's new trophy wife or something.

"Isn't that depressing? Wasn't it sad to see those orphans?"

"I---know---. I had to pretend I was writing on my pad (so that they didn't see me cry)."

Really weird.

Elysees wrote:

danni wrote: 正是所谓的白金镶钻，一共279颗。

这个，我怀疑地说，对小孩来说太重了吧

karen wrote:I used to like Jolie. I thought she was different, plus she is super hot. Now this celebrity political activism crap is really getting old. Especially the whole " I am saving Africa by selling my kid's photos" episode. That's so PTA, and by the way, who cares? Just shut the f88k up and be the movie stars like she is supposed to be.

Knowing wrote:Ah, too bad Anderson Cooper is gay, otherwise they make even better couple than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

花差花差小将军 wrote:Did you see him on Jon Stewart's Daily News last week? Sitting next to Jon, AC seemed so dry and slow

Jun wrote:Come to think of it, I would not be surprise if the marriage between Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, in the real sense of the word marriage, 十年婚姻没有发生过. The annulment may be entirely legitimate.

"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.

tiffany wrote:did u guys hear the rumor that katie holms acutually faked the pregenancy