To: Goldhammer
You completely distort the intention of the tribunal when you imply it grants annulments. Here is the statement of Fr. Peter R. Scott, District Superior of SSPX in N. America, which appears in his letter of August 1, 1997 (which you will find posted on SSPX.org):
"An annulment is not created by the decision of an annulment tribunal. The function of the tribunal is simply to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that there never was a marriage in the first place, that is, that there never was a true exchange of marriage vows."
Fr. Scott cites this fact: that in 1968 there was a total of 336 annulments granted by the Church in the US; in 1992 that number soared to 59,030. Worldwide the number was only 76.286--which meant that 75% of all Church annulments were taking place in the US. Obviously this has raised questions as to the validity of post-conciliar annulments. Hence the need for a tribunal to review them.
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