Reply #52: In Louisiana this is an everyday occurence

[juajen]

I had to testify on paper to the church when a friend of mine applied for an annulment. She and her first husband had been married over 20 years and had four children. Her claim to the church was that she was pregnant and too young to know what she was doing, and that her husband was abusive to her and to her children.

They asked me many, many questions, some of which I could not answer. They're very thorough.

This is difficult to understand if you are not a catholic. Their religion is an everyday part of their life, usually for generations back, and, not practicing their religion is abhorrent, even if they only go to mass a few times a year. It's also a stigma. So, if you want to get remarried, you usually apply for an annulment.

I am not originally from Louisiana and am not a catholic, so all of this was new to me. I admire greatly how the catholic church influences, for the good, family life here in bayou country; although there are, of course, some drawbacks, they are outweighed by the enviable closeness of catholic families