Posted on 09/08/2015 5:07:28 AM PDT by NYer
Joshua J. McElwee
Vatican City
Pope Francis has substantially and significantly altered the process for those seeking annulments of marriages in the Catholic church, eliminating sometimes lengthy and redundant judicial procedures and empowering local bishops to make judgments on their own in “particularly evident” cases.
The changes -- announced at the Vatican Tuesday with release of two formal documents signed by the pope known as motu proprios -- reflect a decided and new shift in delegating power from the church’s central command to local prelates around the world.
They also may represent the most public difference yet between Francis and his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI, who had widely sought to limit the number of annulments in fear of creating a sort of back-door divorce process for Catholics.
In a short introduction to the new changes, Francis explains that he wanted to balance the church’s timeless worry to provide for the salvation of souls with “the enormous number of faithful that … too often are detached from the juridical structures of the Church at the cause of physical or moral distance.”
“In total harmony with these desires, I have decided to give with this Motu proprio arrangements that do not favor the nullifying of marriages but the promptness of the processes,” states Francis, so that “the heart of the faithful that wait for the clarification of their state may not be oppressed for a long time by the darkness of doubt.”
An annulment in the Catholic church is a decree from a church tribunal that a marriage between two persons was invalidly contracted. Such a decree is often sought by persons who are seeking to celebrate a different marriage.
The changes announced by Francis modify the procedures for obtaining annulments in two key ways: Eliminating a sometimes lengthy process requiring a second judgment on all annulment decisions and allowing local bishops a so-called “shorter” process to personally judge on cases considered particularly straightforward.
The changes also, in a new take on a since-abandoned practice, allow any first appeals of annulment decisions to be made at the local level instead of at the Vatican. Appeals from smaller dioceses will now be made at metropolitan archdioceses, which are the archdioceses that are normally closest to the diocese in question.
In his introductory letter for the decree altering the processes for the Latin-rite church -- the church community most recognizable throughout the world as Roman Catholic --the pontiff states that he recognizes the new procedures, especially those allowing decisions by bishops, might worry those concerned about Catholic teaching on the indissolubility of marriage.
But the pope says he wanted to offer the new process to bishops so that it can “be applied in cases in which the accused nullity of the marriage is sustained by arguments particularly evident.”
“It has not escaped me how an abbreviated judgment might put at risk the principle of indissolubility of marriage,” the pope continues. “Indeed, for this I wanted that in this process the judge would be composed of the bishop, that in the strength of his pastoral office is, with Peter, the best guarantee of Catholic unity in the faith and discipline.”
The Vatican announced the changes Tuesday by releasing the two official documents, given the Latin names of Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus ("The Meek Judge, The Lord Jesus") and Mitis et misericors Iesus ("The Meek and Merciful Jesus").
The first document addresses and modifies the annulment procedure for the Latin-rite Code of Canon Law; the second for the canons governing the Eastern-rite Catholic churches. Both texts are currently available only in Latin and Italian.
The changes, signed by Francis on Aug. 15, are to go into effect Dec. 8, the opening day of the upcoming Jubilee Holy Year for Mercy and the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council.
Francis’ decree for the Latin rite churches effectively updates and changes canons 1679-1691 in the church’s Code of Canon Law. The pope also attached to that decree 20 new “procedural rules” for bishops dealing with annulment cases, saying he wanted to offer them as “other instruments” for tools in their work on those matters.
Among other significant changes in the decrees: Francis also mandates that annulment procedures be made free of charge around the world, and also asks that bishops create some sort of structure in their dioceses that can guide and help separated Catholics considering divorce and/or annulment.
In his attached “procedural rules,” Francis gives examples of when a bishop might be able to decide an annulment on his own authority without using the normal process of the church tribunal.
Included in those examples: When there was a clear lacking of faith on the part of one of the persons consenting to the marriage, when one person was in another undisclosed relationship at the time of marriage, or when one party procured an abortion -- indicating that they were not open to the procreation of life.
Francis states in his preface to the Latin-rite decree that he hopes bishops will be close to the annulment processes in their dioceses so that they can offer “a sign of conversion of the ecclesiastical structures, and do not leave the judicial function in matrimonial matters completely delegated to the offices of the curia.”
The pontiff also states that he is allowing appeals of annulment decisions to be made to the metropolitan archdioceses as “a distinctive sign of the synodality of the Church.”
Announcement of the changes of the annulment procedures comes less than a month before the opening of a special global meeting of Catholic bishops, known as a synod, at the Vatican Oct. 4-25.
Francis has called two back-to-back synods for 2014 and 2015, to focus on issues facing families in contemporary society. The discussions have centered partly on the Catholic church’s pastoral practice towards those who have divorced and remarried without first obtaining annulments, who are currently prohibited from taking communion in the church.
Reform of the annulment process also comes with unusual speed for the Vatican, as the pope only first appointed a commission to study the matter in August 2014.
Francis states in his preface to the Latin-rite decree that he is partly making the changes to the annulment process on the suggestion of the bishops at the 2014 synod, who he says “requested more rapid and accessible processes.”
The pontiff’s decision to remove the until-now necessary, and sometimes lengthy, second judgment on all annulment decisions echoes an ability the U.S. Catholic bishops had from 1970-83, when they were allowed by the Vatican to dispense that obligation for certain cases.
That ability -- which was sharply criticized by some at the Vatican who thought the U.S. bishops were applying the dispensation too liberally -- was removed with the publication of the 1983 edition of the Code of Canon Law.
The number of annulment procedures initiated in the U.S. has dropped sharply in recent decades. According to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, the processes initiated went from 60,691 in 1984 to 23,302 in 2014.
Ping!
Rumor has it that there will be no more money involved, regardless of ability to pay or not. And it also looks like procedures and expectations will be very much simplified.
Got to remember that Pope Francis is getting ready to come to America later in the month. The most requests for annulments come from America.
Yes, many of them from Kennedys
This simplification and removal of the financial burden brings the Roman Catholic Church more in line with the long-time practice of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (often described incorrectly on this forum).
Most people are unaware of the Councils of Constantinople 920 and 932 AD
It's hard to avoid the temptation to call him disingenuous in this whole thing.
I'd like to point out one huge flaw in his thinking, among many. The article states:
It's true that a positive intention NEVER to have kids, or to be sexually faithful, present at the time the vows were exchanged, means that a valid marriage never existed from a Catholic point of view. However, procuring an abortion is in no way at all evidence, much less particularly clear proof, that such an intention existed. People give into temptations, especially in difficult circumstances, to do things they know are wrong. That's what sin is. Just because someone gives into the temptation to commit the sin of abortion does not mean that they NEVER want to have kids, or that at the time they exchanged vows they never wanted to have kids, anymore than adultery means they never intended to be faithful.
What he's saying is that if a woman has an abortion after the marriage has been contracted, that is particularly clear proof that she never intended to have children, and that therefore there was no marriage!
Bullsh!t
This is a disastrous example of one of two things—either of Pope Francis' inability to think clearly, or his positive desire to undermine Catholic doctrine. Only God knows which. I am generally opposed to the idea of papal resignations, but in this case I think it would be a good idea. I will now explicitly pray that Pope Francis resign and that his successor be both faithful and competent.
He’s not proclaiming anything and this has nothing to do with doctrine, faith or morals. These are just changes - for better or for worse - to an already existing administrative procedure.
That said, I think it makes the annulment too easy and gives a bad message, but we shall see.
If you can please, do get info about how the Orthodox Churches do it. Thank-you and God Bless.
Can you go more into detail please. Thank-you and God Bless!
It has no effect on the doctrine of infallibility because while the process of annulments, even though it bears on an infallible teaching, is not itself an infallible teaching. Doctrines are infallible, not processes. Nevertheless, it is my opinion that the new process clearly undermines the infallibility of the teaching on marriage, despite what the pope says.
The pope is not prevented from being incompetent in his decisions about how to effectively teach and promote the faith.
The Orthodox churches—they are schismatic, don't forget—allow divorce and remarriage (at least second marriages), and therefore are not proper models of how we as Catholics should handle annulments.
Conservatives counter that in the climate of rising liberal thought, they have been thrust unfairly into a position in which “defending the real teachings of the church makes you look like an enemy of the pope,” a senior Vatican official said on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely.
It's worth the read.
Check out the articled linked above on the growing dissent within the Vatican.
In front of the camera, Burke said he would “resist” liberal changes — and seemed to caution Francis about the limits of his authority. “One must be very attentive regarding the power of the pope,” Burke told the French news crew. Papal power, Burke warned, “is not absolute.” He added, “The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.”
It's worth the read.
I guess the better question is why do you believe it does?
Pope Francis has proven to be remarkably good at talking about synodality and all that stuff, and then doing exactly the opposite. He's been quite effective at marginalizing orthodox bishops and priests, and creating "peripheries" that seem to fall outside the list of acceptable peripheries he wants us to go to.
However good and sincere his intentions, this new process will end in disaster for many souls.
At first I thought there was a silver lining, that at least this would quell calls at the synod to allow the divorced and remarried to receive Communion. But now I realize this is like throwing red meat to hungry wolves. There will be a frenzy of calls to allow them to receive Communion, because, well, this document undermines the very teaching it purports to uphold.
Because he is attempting to change what has been Church doctrine since its inception. And if it hasn’t been, what has been the point of the Church in general in this matter for the past 2000+ years?
“I will now explicitly pray that Pope Francis resign and that his successor be both faithful and competent”.
Annulments to basically be passed out like candy by the Cupichs, Wuerls and Dolans of the Church. And free of charge. Maybe they’ll get a free Francis phone to go along with the quickie “annulment”.
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