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In the rescript Pope Francis has issued "regarding the implementation of the recent reforms to the Church's marriage law," there is a provision whose immense significance has not been lost on canon law experts. Here it is: "No recourse is allowed before the Roman Rota for a Nova Causae Propositio (N.C.P.), after one of the parties has contracted a new canonical marriage, unless the injustice of the decision is manifestly established." What this means in simple terms is that if one party to marriage obtains a quickie annulment at the diocesan level, the party opposing the annulment cannot even introduce...

"Catholic Divorce - Head of Vatican Commission Admits in Official Paper: Surge in Number of "Annulments" Intended" Since Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and its companion document Mitis et misericors Iesus were published on September 8, there has been little reference to the article published by L'Osservatore Romano on that same day to explain the thinking behind the reforms of Canon law. This is a pity, as this article was written by no other than the head of the Commission for the reform of the canonical matrimonial process, the Dean of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto:...

T o much fanfare in the press, Pope Francis has started a "dialogue" about the Catholic Church's marriage practices. The part that has received the most attention is whether civilly divorced and civilly remarried Catholics should be admitted to Holy Communion, without having to abandon their second marriage, which the church recognizes as continuing adultery. This issue will be addressed by the bishops of the Catholic Church at a "Synod on the Family" over this year and next. Unfortunately, the pope's favorite theologian and the pope himself have initiated this discussion in a befogging cloud of pessimism. The pope is...

The opening report for the bishops' synod on the family touched on the process of annulments, noting that reform is being asked by many who often misunderstand the indissolubility of marriage. General relator Cardinal Peter Erdo said the synod's Instrumentum laboris – or “working document” – shows a “broad consensus in favor of simplifying marriage cases from the pastoral point of view and recounts increasing instances of a divorce mentality in the valid celebration of the Sacrament. ” “With this in mind, it does not seem hazardous to believe that many marriages celebrated in the Church may be invalid,” he...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis has ordered a review aimed at simplifying the Church's procedures for annulments, the Vatican said on Saturday, a move that could make it easier for Catholics to end marriages. A statement said Francis had appointed an 11-member commission of canon lawyers and theologians to propose reform of the process, "seeking to simplify and streamline it while safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of marriage". An annulment, formally known as a "decree of nullity," is a ruling that a marriage was not valid in the first place according to Church law because certain pre-requisites, such...

Two canon lawyers reviewed the "Vindicate Rights Petition."Philip Gray, J.C.L, says "in the vast majority of cases today, divorce has become an 'easy out' to avoid responsibility, pass blame, obtain revenge, or somehow justify problems in the marital relationship or between parents and children." Canon lawyer Fr. Chuck Zmudzinski, C.P.M., J.C.L. explained, "I worked in a marriage tribunal for about five years and one of the reasons I eventually quit was because I did not agree with how strongly biased the tribunal officials seemed to be against the bond of matrimony."

Welp, I learned today that my annulment has moved not a single inch in the last 60 days. It's been 14 months since I began this journey and it appears, based on how it's moved to date that my case is never going to be decided. 10 months to another full year. My parish offers me and my wife ZIP in the way of support but they sure like getting those envolopes with a check from us each month. Being denied would be better than this--at least we would have some notion of what we needed to do besides wait....

POPE JOHN PAUL II'S HEAVIEST CROSS: THE DISOBEDIENT CLERICS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE UNITED STATES