I first approached the Catholic Tribunal in Madrid in 1997 about getting an annulment. At the time I was still going through the divorce, and wasn't a Catholic - I was Anglo-Catholic.

I have to say everybody at the Madrid Tribunal treated me very nice, a few notes were taken and some questions. Then the priest that was attending me, asked if I and my ex-wife were baptized. I said yes, and he asked for information on where those baptisms were held. The priest explained that until the divorce was finalized nothing could be done on the annulment front, but they could at least begin looking into the validity of the baptisms. Here I should mention that I was baptized in a Baptist Church, and my ex-wife in a mainline Protestant church. I had already read quite a bit on annulments, and was pretty certain that both our baptisms were valid.

Periodically I would check in with the Tribunal to see if anything had been found out with regard to the validity of the baptisms. Each time I was greeted in a very cordial manner...and they even remembered my name. But I was always told that they still were trying to find out if her baptism was valid.

In 1999 my divorce was finalized...and I was still waiting for the Madrid Tribunal to tell me if the baptism of my ex-wife was valid or not. The same priest and clerks told me that they had sent off a request to Rome to determine if the baptism in question was valid. And they told me there was nothing that we could do until Rome had returned with an answer.

About every month or two I'd go down to the Tribunal to find out if we could proceed with the annulment process, and I would always be told that we had to wait for a decision on the validity of the baptism.

Things continued in the pattern until 2001. That's the year that I contacted an American priest for the English-speaking community in Madrid. He also contacted the Tribunal, and was told that they had to request a report on the baptism of my ex-wife. In other words, according to him...they'd never done it in the first place. In 2002, after waiting another year, the American priest said it was obvious that nothing was going to get done at the Madrid Tribunal, and suggested that I contact the Tribunal in the town where I was married. He also said, that in his experience, the Tribunals usually have handy a list of valid baptisms.

In Spring 2002 I contacted the Tribunal in the US by email. Within a week I had received an answer back that yes indeed the baptism was valid, and that an annulment would be required. Within two weeks they sent me the paperwork, and the process officially began.

I've been told by various people, priests, including those in the Madrid Tribunal, that my annulment case is pretty clear cut. Indeed, a decision was expected by last Christmas, but after all this time, my ex-wife decided to contest the annulment. She also appealed for the Madrid Tribunal to hear the case. The US Tribunal said they wouldn't transfer the case back to Madrid, but of course, they did invite her to provide testimony.

Further information was gathered. Once the case was on hold because my ex-wife told the Tribunal that we were in the middle of a custody battle. After it was demonstrated that there was in fact no custody case, the annulment process continued. Last I heard, the case has been seen by the "Defender of the Bond" and a decision by the Judge is expected around July 20-28. The judge has told my advocate that my wife and I should go ahead and take marriage preparation courses.

In fairness to the Madrid Tribunal, I have heard that in Spain only around 200 annulments are heard a year. I don't know if that's true, but I do recall reading various press reports where Church officials have called for quicker processing. Perhaps I should add, last year - around Christmas - I finally got a telephone call from the Madrid Tribunal. They told me both the baptisms were valid and that I'd need an annulment.

- jesus gil