Catholic news:

Sources tell TIME that the Vatican has reversed the annulment of Joseph P. Kennedy II's marriage to Sheila Rauch....

The annulment was the subject of Rauch's 1997 book Shattered Faith, which lambasted her ex-husband and was severely critical of the Catholic Church's proceedings, which made the marriage (which had produced twin boys) null and void in the eyes of the church. Rauch argued that Kennedy was able to unilaterally "cancel" nearly 12 years of marriage because of his clan's influence in the church....

Oh, if only certain other politicians' annulments could be embarrassingly reversed:

In 1982, after almost 14 years of childless marriage, then U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani obtained a legal separation from Regina Peruggi. Giuliani was already living in Washington D.C., sharing living quarters with Donna Hanover....

At the time, Giuliani was just preparing to enter the political arena and believed that the Catholic vote would be essential to his future success. His divorce, as well as that of Hanover, might prove to be political stumbling blocks in the future... he turned to his old friend, Monsignor Alan Placa....

Although the Catholic Church forbids divorce, it has long granted annulments of marriages ruled contrary to canon law; an annulled marriage is understood by the Church never to have existed in the first place. Placa interceded on behalf of Giuliani, and his 14- year marriage to Regina Peruggi was declared null and void by the bishop on the grounds that Giuliani and Peruggi were had not obtained a special dispensation for their second-cousin marriage in 1968. The process was highly irregular....

And you may recognize the name Alan Placa:

It had been a few years since Richard Tollner last publicly accused his former teacher Msgr. Alan Placa of groping him in high school, but Tollner recently repeated the charges -- raising an awkward issue for Rudolph Giuliani's run for president.

...After the accusations first surfaced in 2002, the Diocese of Rockville Centre placed Placa on administrative leave, barring him from priestly duties and from wearing the collar. Placa, who insists he is innocent, has not been charged with a crime.

Yet despite the controversy, Giuliani gave his old friend Placa a job at Giuliani Partners, and Michael Hess, a partner at the firm and the ex-mayor's corporation counsel, handled Placa's legal matters....

Wonder when the elite press will decide the Giuliani-Placa relationship is worth covering....