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 churchs 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 churchs
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 Romes 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
National Catholic Reporter, April 26,
2002
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