Free The Greatest Evil by William X. Kienzle Page B

as a ‘Privilege of the Faith.’
    “Here, for the first time, we are not talking about an annulment. This one is called a dissolution.”
    Frank and Martha were listening—hard. But Father Koesler realized that although they were taking in his words, a good deal of explanation was still necessary, particularly for Frank, the non-Catholic in this affair.
    “You see, Frank, as far as the Catholic Church is concerned, you and Mildred had a valid but not sacramental marriage. Now, ordinarily, you’d think of a priest as the minister of sacraments. But not the sacrament of matrimony: The bride gives the sacrament to the groom and vice versa. The priest, in this case, is an official witness.
    “Now, in your case there was no sacrament because you were never baptized—and one has to be baptized in order to give or receive a sacrament.
    “So, if this case plays out the way we want, you and Martha could be married in the Catholic Church. You would be baptized and then when you give your consent in marriage, your first marriage would be dissolved as a ‘Privilege of the Faith.’”
    “But … but that’s wonderful!” Martha was almost breathless and enthused at the same time. “When can we do this—when can we get married in the Church?”
    “Not so fast, Marty,” Frank cautioned. “There’s more to this than meets the eye …” He turned back to Koesler. “… ain’t there, Father?”
    “I’m afraid so. Yes.”
    “What? What?” Martha’s enthusiasm plummeted.
    “It’s in the proof,” Koesler said. He looked at Frank. “You’ve got to prove that you never were baptized.”
    “How do you prove something never happened?” Frank asked.
    “Exactly,” Koesler responded. “If you—yes, you, Frank”—Koesler nodded—”if you were to take a baby into a baptistery and baptize that baby, that baby would be validly baptized. Yes …” He nodded again, anticipating Frank’s question. “… in the eyes of the Catholic Church, the baptism would be valid whether the baby was baptized in a Methodist church, a Lutheran church—or a bowl of water in the kitchen. For baptism, the ordinary minister of the sacrament is a priest. But for validity, anyone with the correct intention can baptize.
    “So you see the problem when we allege that you never were baptized, Frank. What if when you were a baby, a kindly uncle—aunt, grandfather, whatever—took you to … anywhere there was water—”
    “When you put it that way, Father,” Martha said, “it seems quite impossible to prove that Frank’s never been baptized.”
    “Well, it’s not quite that comprehensively difficult.” Koesler smiled at Martha, then turned to Frank again. “What we need are witnesses—lots of extremely credible witnesses—to testify that the attitude of just about everyone who touched your young life was that your parents’ prohibition of baptism was well known and observed by everyone. Now you yourself can testify about the years after you reached the age of reason. But even then we need witnesses for those years too.
    “You see, Frank … Martha …” he addressed both, “what we must build up is an overwhelming flood of similar testimony that affirms that Frank was most unlikely ever to have been baptized.
    “So, actually getting this ‘Privilege of the Faith’ is most difficult. But not impossible. Such dissolutions have been granted in the past—and, undoubtedly, will be in future. What we don’t know is whether we can get it for you.”
    “Well,” Frank said, after a lengthy pause, “how do we get started, Father?”
    Koesler rubbed his hands together. “Okay. I’ll take you through this chronologically. But remember”—he looked at each of them in turn—“if you find any of this procedure impossible—for any reason—say so now. I’ll tell you everything that will be required … and I won’t pull any punches.”
    Both his listeners nodded.
    “First off, we go through a standard series of instructions