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Pope advises Roman Rota: 'Discern annulment cases with charity'


Roman Rota - Image Vatican Media

Roman Rota - Image Vatican Media

Source: Vatican Media

On Friday, Pope Francis reiterated the critical importance of simplifying processes of annulment of marriages and of making them more accessible while upholding the Church's teachings on the indissolubility of marriage.

"We are called by the pain and hope of many faithful who seek clarity regarding the truth of their personal condition and, consequently, their possibility of fully participating in sacramental life," the Pope said as he addressed the officials of the Roman Rota, the Vatican's highest judicial tribunal, at the beginning of their Judicial Year.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of his two Moti Propria 'Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus' and 'Mitis et Misericors Iesus', which reformed the process for annulments, empowering diocesan bishops to act as judges to nullify marriages, eliminating the requirement that the Roman Rota sign off with its own sentence. That measure also pushed for making the procedure free.

In his remarks, Pope Francis reminded the audience that his move was inspired by the deliberations of the Synodal Fathers in 2014, who emphasized the urgent need for more accessible and streamlined procedures, moved by a pastoral concern to ensure that Church structures remain close to the faithful and serve their spiritual needs effectively.

A crucial point of the reform was the central role of the diocesan bishop. Giving the bishop the power to grant annulments through the shorter process (processus brevior) in cases where nullity is manifest, the Pope explained, is an expression of the Church's concern for the salvation of souls (salus animarum).

Noting that many faithful are often unaware of this possibility, the Pope stressed the need to inform them and reaffirmed that the procedures should be free of charge to reflect the gratuitous love of Christ.

Pope Francis also underscored the importance of ensuring that diocesan tribunals are well-structured, with adequately trained clerics and laypeople so "they can carry out their work with justice and diligence."

The quality of formation-both intellectual and spiritual-is therefore crucial in guaranteeing that faithful receive a just and careful examination of their cases, he said, reiterating that the reform must continue to be guided by the concern for the salvation of souls as stated in 'Mitis Iudex'.

"Investing in the formation of these personnel-scientifically, humanly, and spiritually-always benefits the faithful, who have the right to careful consideration of their requests, even when they receive a negative response."

A key theme of the speech was the balance between justice and pastoral sensitivity. The reform, the Pope explained, was not designed to increase the number of annulments but to prevent prolonged uncertainty that could burden the faithful in line with the previous reform introduced by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1975. By abolishing the requirement for double-conforming sentences, the 2015 reform aimed to prevent unnecessary legal complexities from obstructing access to truth and justice.

"The reform is not aimed at increasing the nullity of marriages but at expediting processes, ensuring a just simplicity so that, due to delayed rulings, the hearts of the faithful awaiting clarity about their status are not long oppressed by the darkness of doubt"

Warning against the danger of an excessively legalistic approach, Pope Francis, therefore, called upon the judges to exercise prudence, justice, and charity, ensuring that their work serves the real needs of the people rather than being an abstract legal exercise. "There is an intimate connection between prudence and justice, as the exercise of prudentia iuris aims at knowing what is just in a concrete case," he said.

The judges' work in discerning the validity of marriage, therefore, is not merely a legal duty but a pastoral service to the salvation of souls, "as it enables the faithful to know and accept the truth of their personal reality", thus contributing to strengthening the culture of indissolubility, affirmed by the Church's teaching on the sacredness of marriage.

Concluding Pope Francis encouraged the officials of the Roman Rota in their mission, reminding them that their work is ultimately one of hope: "helping individuals to purify and restore interpersonal relationships."


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