(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday met with a group of canonists taking a course at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. In his remarks , the Pope spoke about the importance of fairness and accessibility in the proceedings of Church Tribunals trying to adjudicate the validity of marriages.
“The Holy Father here takes the occasion, a good occasion indeed, to bring up again the concern he already previously expressed, more than once, to see the ecclesiastical procedure for dealing with marriage nullity cases carried out as expeditiously as possible – and possibly, to be also modified for the same purpose,” explained Msgr. David-Maria Jaeger, OFM, who serves as an Auditor [Judge] on the Roman Rota.
Listen to the interview with Msgr. David-Maria Jaeger, OFM:
“Now modifying, or simplifying, the procedure, is His own prerogative, and – as He mentions here – he has put in place a special Commission to present Him with suggestions to this end, and has appointed the Dean of the Roman Rota to preside over it,” said Msgr. Jaeger.
“Carrying out the procedures already in place as efficiently as possible is the responsibility of the Church’s judiciary, which is here once more being reminded of the seriousness of its duty to provide for the good of souls by doing justice in a timely manner,” he continued.
Pope Francis made his remarks before his General Audience, when he briefly greeted participants of a course offered by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota on “Instructing a Case for the Dispensation of a Marriage ‘Super rato et non consumato’” -valid, but unconsummated marriages – which can be dissolved under certain conditions according to Church law.
“The particular course taking place this week is contiguous to this matter,” Msgr. Jaeger continued.
“The dispensation from a valid but unconsummated marriage is a favour that the Pope alone may grant, but the enquiries necessary to put a report together on individual cases and sending them to Rome are the responsibility of the diocesan bishops and their staffs,” he said.
“This annual course is intended to train diocesan personnel from all over the world to do just that,” said Msgr. Jaeger.
“Then Pope Benedict XVI assigned to the Dean of the Roman Rota the task of organising and overseeing the papal commissions that study the cases that the diocesan chanceries send to Rome, and that make the eventual recommendation to the Holy Father to grant the requested favour, or else determine that the conditions for doing that have not been met, in the case concerned,” he said.
“It is a ministry distinct from that of adjudicating petitions to declare a given marriage invalid, but both ministries have this in common: that they are geared to legitimately freeing persons from the bond of a marriage that has turned out to have been an unhappy experience, and doing so in full accord with God’s Word and His law,” concluded Msgr. Jaeger.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday met with a group of canonists taking a course at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. In his remarks, the Pope spoke about the importance of fairness and accessibility in the proceedings of Church Tribunals trying to adjudicate the validity of marriages. “The Holy Father here takes the occasion,…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday met with a group of canonists taking a course at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. In his remarks, the Pope spoke about the importance of fairness and accessibility in the proceedings of Church Tribunals trying to adjudicate the validity of marriages. “The Holy Father here takes the occasion,…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke about the importance of fairness and accessibility in the proceedings of Church Tribunals trying to adjudicate the validity of marriages.
He made his remarks before his General Audience, when he briefly greeted participants of a course offered by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota on “Instructing a Case for the Dispensation of a Marriage ‘Super rato et non consumato’” -valid, but unconsummated marriages – which can be dissolved under certain conditions according to Church law.
“In the Extraordinary Synod [on the Family], There was talk about procedures, processes, and there was a preoccupation for streamlining the procedures, in the interest of Justice,” Pope Francis said. “Justice: For decisions must be just, and because there must be justice for the people who are waiting.”
He also spoke about the Commission for the study of the reform of the matrimonial processes in canon law, which was announced in September, which he said is designed to hope streamline the process: “A path of justice, and also charity, because there are so many people who need a word from the Church about the marriage situation – be it a yes or a no – because this is just.”
He said some processes are “so long and so weighty” that people become “discouraged” and leave.
He then provided an example.
“The inter-Diocesan Tribunal of Buenos Aires had – I do not remember, but I believe –15 dioceses in the first instance. I think the furthest was 240 kilometers away! …It is impossible to imagine that ordinary people…can go to the Tribunal: They would need to go on a trip, missing days of work, and there is also the cost…so many things…They say: ‘God understands me, and I go on like this, with this weight on my soul.’ And Mother Church must judge and say ‘Yes, it is true, your marriage is null’ or ‘No, your marriage is valid’. But [she must] make a judgment and tell them, so that it is possible to go forward without this doubt, this darkness in the soul,” said the Holy Father.
Pope Francis also warned about treating the Church’s annulment process like a business, again providing an example.
“There have been public scandals,” the Pope said. “I had to dismiss a person from a Tribunal some time ago, who said ‘Give me $10,000 and I’ll take care of both processes: the civil and the ecclesiastical’. Please, not this!”
He said the Synod also had proposals about the costs of the process, adding “when you attach economic interests to spiritual interests, it is not of God.”
He concluded by reminding the students to always look to the “salus animarum” [the salvation of souls], adding this is not necessarily found outside of justice, but “indeed, with justice.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke about the importance of fairness and accessibility in the proceedings of Church Tribunals trying to adjudicate the validity of marriages. He made his remarks before his General Audience, when he briefly greeted participants of a course offered by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota on “Instructing a…
Read more