Here´s a new wrinkle in the annulment process.

Today we went to meet with a priest who runs marriage courses, and knows all the ins and outs of the paperwork that can sometimes be required.

He told me that we need to get my annulment "convalidated" or "legalized" for here in Spain. This wasn´t too much of a surprise, since my spiritual director looked at the papers last week and said the samething.

I was told that any item from another country, such as a baptism certificate, needs this stamp. Thinking about this, it kind of reminds me of the Church´s version of a Hague Certificate.

So today, I asked, okay, how do I do this. And I was told that I need a stamp from the Bishop in Montana verifying that signatures and power of the persons who signed my annulment decree. I asked if the seal that is on the papers doesn´t count...and the answer was "no."

So, I called the Tribunal in Montana where I got the annulment and asked them if they could help. I explained the situation, and said that I needed a stamp from the Bishop "legalizing" the decree.

The answer was...they´d never heard of any such thing.