Kohen marrying woman not fit for him to marry

What if a Kohen married a woman who he was not fit to marry such as a woman that had slept with a non Jewish man prior to their marriage and they had son which would make the son a chalal. My main question is this happened in the early 1980s in Iran and their family was not religious and they were poor and they did not know fully Torah law. If a Kohen does not know full Torah law and marries a woman not fit for him because simply they are not religious and do not know the law and had a wedding likely without a Rabbi to instruct them does that still make the son a Chalal? Are there questions of whether the son may or may not be a chalal because it was not the sons fault that the parents were not religious and did not know fully the Jewish law back then.

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

For the benefit of our readers, allow me to begin with some words of introduction.

The term “Chalal” refers to a Kohen who has been disqualified from the Kehuna, the Priesthood. Such a person is considered to be a “non-Kohen” for all practical purposes. As such, he may not receive the first Aliyah at the Torah, he may not perform the Birkat Kohanim, and he IS permitted to tend to the dead.

A child born from parents who are disqualified from being in a “Kohanic” relationship is a Chalal. In other words, if a male Kohen has a child from a women he is forbidden to marry then that child is a Chalal.

As you correctly note, a woman who had a relationship with a non-Jewish man is forbidden to marry a Kohen. If such a women did give birth to a child from a Kohen, whether in the course of a marriage or outside of marriage, the child is a Chalal.

Other examples of producing a Chalal is a Kohen who has a child with a convert or divorcee. So too, the child of a female Chalal (“Chalala”) is also a Chalal. There is also a concept of “rabbinic level Chalal” but that is not relevant to your question and is beyond the scope of this response.

The Halacha does not differentiate between those who sinned knowingly or unknowingly and unfortunately a woman who is unfit for Kehuna due to any reason remains unfit for Kehuna.

EH chapter 6 and 7 and commentaries