Reflections on the changes in the annulment process

Friday, Oct. 16, 2015

Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus

The following series on the reform of the annulment process is being presented in three parts: part I deals with the announcement and the circumstances at the time of the promulgation of the Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus. Part II will comment on the upcoming Synod of the Family. Part III will present some reflections on biblical and pastoral perspectives on marriage and annulments.

Let’s begin by stating that declarations of invalidity of marriages, commonly known as Catholic annulments, look for many to be a simple Catholic divorce. “Divorce” says that the reality of marriage was there in the beginning and that now the reality is broken.  On one hand, the procedure for divorce is a civil matter which regulates the dissolution of a civil marriage and its civil effects. On the other hand, “Annulment” means a ruling by a Church court that a union between a man and a woman, even if it began with a Church wedding, is not a valid marriage because it fails one of the basic requirements, such as a lack of genuine consent or a psychological incapacity to undertake the obligations due to causes of psychic nature, or unwillingness of one or both spouses to have children, to remain in an exclusive and faithful relationship, or to maintain the sacramentality (indissolubility) of their union.

Prior to the promulgation of the motu proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus, the procedure required for invalidity of marriage to be issued by one court of first instance and confirmed by another of second instance (court of appeal). Many have rightly said that this process was fraught with unnecessary delays and difficulties and added to the pain and suffering of those involved in separation, divorce and re-marriage outside the Church community.

On Sept. 8, Pope Francis promulgated two Apostolic Letters motu proprio (on his own authority) by which he introduced reforms to the legal structures of the Church dealing with questions of marital nullity. Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus are the names in Latin of the two decrees respectively. The first one translates to “The Gentle Judge, The Lord Jesus.” The second is translated “The Meek and Merciful Jesus.” 

These new rulings have reduced significantly the amount of time to obtain a declaration of invalidity of marriage (annulment). Both documents were signed by Pope Francis on Aug. 15. They will take effect Dec. 8,  the first day of the Holy Year of Mercy.

Through the papal decrees, the pope has called particular Churches to be sensitive to the costs of the annulment procedures recommending that the annulment process be free of charge because “the Church, showing itself to the faithful as a generous mother, in an matter so closely linked to the salvation of souls manifests the gratuitous love of Christ by which we were saved.”  In this particular matter, it has been left to the Catholic Conferences to provide norms regarding the administrative costs having in mind the good of the people. Also, every diocese in the world has the responsibility of naming a judge or a Church tribunal to process requests, with the possibility of the bishops acting as judges.  This part of the Motu Proprio is not new for the pastoral reality of the United States where every archdiocese/diocese enjoys having a functional tribunal with the proper personnel assigned to the ministry of law.

Of particular interest, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, and also a member of the Special Commission appointed to study the issue and make the recommendations on which the reform is based, reiterated what the Church has always taught: that the reforms do not touch the nature and purpose either of marriage or of the Church’s marriage law. Marriage is a sacrament and is by its nature indissoluble; when a marriage is accused of nullity, the Church merely investigates to see whether the parties presumed to be married ever actually executed a valid marriage contract in the eyes of the Church.

Cardinal Palmerio went on to explain that the concern of Pope Francis is in first place for the good of all the faithful, especially those whose situations have been a cause of difficulty in living the Christian life as fully as possible. “The problem,” he said, “is rather of an exquisitely pastoral nature, and consists in rendering marriage nullity trials more swift and speedy, so as the more solicitously to serve the faithful who find themselves in such situations.”

The Cardinal stressed: “We are not strictly talking then, about a legal process that leads to the ‘annulment’ of a marriage,” as though the act of the Church court were one of nullification. … Nullity is different from annulment – declaring the nullity of a marriage is absolutely different from decreeing the annulment of a marriage.”

The specific changes in the Motu Proprio directly address the question of speed in the process: the removal of the need for a twofold conforming sentence from both the court of first instance and then from the appellate court, which automatically reviewed the acts of the first instance trial. A single trial in the first instance will be considered sufficient for persons whose presumed marriage has been declared null, to enter into new marriages under Church law. Furthermore, there is an introduction of the possibility for a single judge to try and issue rulings on individual cases; the creation of an expedited trial process for certain cases, in which the evidence of nullity is abundant, and both parties accuse the marriage of nullity.