New Church Rules on Annulment Procedure

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Catholic : One Thread

Hello all,

On another thread on this board, I recently saw the press release I have posted below. If anybody has any other news on this development, I would be greatly obliged if you could share it.

In Christ, Pat Delaney

Vatican may simplify annulment rules By JOHN L. ALLEN JR. Rome

A new Vatican document, now in the working stages, could nudge the American Catholic church to a more rigorous approach to annulments. It will contain new rules for church courts that handle requests for declaring a marriage invalid.

Sources say the document may also resolve several procedural headaches, making the process easier for canon lawyers and ultimately for Catholics who seek to remarry with the church’s blessing.

Though the final text is not yet available, experts familiar with the document say a draft version contained a provision that will be of strong ecumenical interest. It would recognize the marriage law of other Christian churches -- especially the Orthodox and Anglican -- as part of Catholic canon law. Thus, if a marriage were nullified under Orthodox law, it would be considered invalid for Catholics as well, and a formal judgment of invalidity would not be needed.

The new document is formally known as an “instruction on the nullity of marriage,” and it will replace a previous set of rules for processing annulment requests, called Provida Mater, that dates from 1936, during the pontificate of Pius XI.

Specialists have known for years that a new set of rules was in the works, since John Paul II first requested the project in 1996. It is a joint project of three Vatican offices: the Roman Rota, which is the main ecclesiastical court in the Vatican; the Apostolic Signatura, the church’s supreme court; and the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts.

In January 1999, a draft of the document was sent to various bishops’ conferences around the world for comment. The three offices held a round of meetings in May and June 2000 to consider the responses.

In mid-March, Cardinal Mario Francesco Pompedda announced during a symposium at Rome’s Lateran University that the new instruction is now in an “advanced stage.”

Pompedda did not respond to NCR requests for comment on the document.

The United States produces by far the largest number of annulments in the world, some 60,000 a year. Supporters attribute this number to the high quality of American ecclesiastical tribunals, while critics fault the U.S. system for being too permissive.

In addition to Catholics who obtain an annulment, experts believe some 6 million American Catholics are divorced and civilly remarried without ever having attempted to go through the ecclesiastical process. The commonly accepted number among canonists is that only 10 percent of marriages of divorced American Catholics receive declarations of invalidity.

A Rome-based canonist said the document may address certain reservations Vatican officials have long harbored about the way the American church issues declarations of invalidity. These concerns include:

Use of psychological testing. Gathering testimony in writing rather than face-to-face. Settling certain appeals by simple decree rather than a “full process.” All three are seen by some in Rome as biased in favor of an eventual decision for invalidity. It would not be surprising, the canonist said, if the new document “tightens up” on these points.

At the same time, the document is expected to clarify procedural matters that have long been vexing to canonists. One example is “prior bonds,” meaning a case in which someone requesting an annulment has more than one prior marriage. It has long been unclear in what order the prior marriages must be examined, and if they should be dealt with in one action or several.

By addressing such matters, sources say, the document could make the process faster and easier for many applicants.

John L. Allen Jr. is NCR Rome correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@natcath.org



-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), September 07, 2003

Answers

More B.S. from the hierarchy that does nothing except use more smoke and mirrors. Indicative of the lack of concern for true justice.

Karl

-- Karl (Parkerkajwen@hotmail.com), September 08, 2003.


Actually Karl,

I really think you should reconsider your opinion. Cheer up a bit.

Some solid guidelines regarding how marriage history and scientific evidence is to be considered would clear up a lot of the incorrect thinking going on in America regarding defective consent cases.

Taking the long view, this illustrates how the Church is maturing in its understanding of the nature of marriage and human anthropology. We've come a long way since the dark ages.

-- Pat Delaney (pat@patdelaney.net), September 08, 2003.


Yes we have. Except those of us who claim to be "traditionalists".

-- Paul (PaulCyp@cox.net), September 08, 2003.

I hear the soooound of abundance! lol! Do you hear it?

-- Emerald (emerald1@cox.net), September 08, 2003.

The latest news out of Rome is that these new procedures won't be promulgated before this coming Spring at the earliest.

Human justice will always be flawed Karl, but we can certainly hope to keep growing in our reflection of our Lord's justice.

Hope that's helpful.

-- Fr. Mike Skrocki, JCL (abounamike@aol.com), September 09, 2003.



I am in the process of getting an annulment and it is not as easy as it may seem. It takes up to 1 year and your grounds need to be soild. In my case I had serious doubts that my marriage would work even before we were married, but wanted to try regardless, which I did my best. Based on this I do have grounds for the annulment, but have to pay/donate $500.00 to the church, have three witnesses fill out about a 20 page questionaire, and like I said wait for about a year. The process should be easier after it is determined that you have vaild grounds. In the mean time I am not supposed to have any relationship with a person.

-- Joe Chiarella (j.chiarella@worldnet.att.net), September 19, 2003.

Joe,

A marriage is presumed valid -determining invalidity of a marriage is not easy unless there is objective evidence to prove invalidity. Greater difficulty and longer time is required to make determinations that are subjective in nature. The "New Church Rules on Annulment Procedure" among other things will undoubtedly simplify and further define/refine the subjective criteria. This further definition will in my opinion eliminate some 'subjective' petitions from even being accepted and 'subjective' cases that are taken will have higher standards to meet. This should decrease the caseload of local tribunals, reduce the possibility of erroneous decrees at the local level, and assure efforts are not wasted on subjective cases that have no merit...

-- Daniel Hawkenberry (dlm@catholic.org), September 19, 2003.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ