How old are you? The RC church has made a lot of reforms since I was born in 1949, maybe that "
misinformation" was true then, in 1968. I've shared this testimony with a million (sic) Catholics over the last 50 years, and this is the first time anyone has ever said it wasn't true.
And, maybe the priest lied just to try to get me to stick it out as part of the "for better or worse" vow.
I actually did go through the annulment process 10+ years later. Not for myself, but for my X wife who wanted to marry another Catholic. She actually wasn't one when she got pregnant and we "had" to get married. We had to go through a counseling period with the monsignor in order to get married. During the time of that process and with a lot of advice from friends who really new me, I realized this wasn't a love relationship, it was a lust relationship. She got pregnant the first time I'd ever had sex (not the first for her). But I kept trusting that this 'man of God' would actually hear God and tell us that he needed to refuse us from getting married. At our last pre-marital meeting with the monsignor my heart just sank when he announced "Well this is our last session, we'll see you at the church." I was so 'taken' I actually told Sherry to go on out to the car because I wanted to ask him one more thing. When she left, I poured out my heart and told him this was not good, I wasn't ready ect. ect. We were standing at the door when I did this. He literally pushed me out the door and said "We'll see you...'whatever day'....our marriage was scheduled for. Honestly, the annulment process was a joke IMO. I was interviewed by a young priest and asked some pretty lame questions I thought. But I did enjoy witnessing to him, and giving him a testimony of how I wasn't even saved until 4 years after we were divorced, so as far as I was concerned that marriage had no biblical grounds for some annulment process you paid $300 for ($1,000 now) so some Cardinal/whoever reading about it could say this marriage wasn't approved by God...or whatever/whoever it was supposed to appease.
It all worked for the better though. I was raised believing I was saved because I jumped through all the "
rituals" of 'The Church' (infant baptism, confession, confirmation, catechism, mass ect ect). Part of my testimony is I was literally born with a drug problem. MY mom 'drug' me/us to church every Sunday no matter if you were sick or whatever. The only problem is, '
religious RITUAL' without a
spiritual REALITY saves nobody. And being raised 'in the church' no more makes you 'a Christian, than being raised in a garage, makes you a car. And that "bad
misinformation" you mentioned did lead me to believe I wasn't saved (which was true) and headed to hell. So believe me, those next 4 years included so much evil, that for the first 10 years after being saved, I told people I'd still be in prison if I'd have got caught for half of what I did.
I do appreciate your heart on this though Valletta.