“the right not to be deceived by a judgment of nullity which is in conflict with the existence of a true marriage"

In Catholic dioceses in the U.S., declarations of nullity went from 398 in 1968 to 60,000 in the early 1990s (cf., Brian Fraga, OSV Newsweekly, 5/20/2012).  Carried away by "pastoral" concern to reconcile divorced / "remarried" people to the Church, there is growing concern that attempts to foster marital reconciliation are getting ignored.  What have our recent Holy Fathers been saying about marriage and annulments of marriage, in their annual addresses to the Roman Rota (the Vatican's "Supreme Court", if you will)?

Saint Pope John Paul II and the Roman Rota

Following in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII's Arcanum, Pope Pius XI's Casti Connubii, and Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae, Saint Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body proclaimed anew the truth about  marriage/ family/ human sexuality.  His solicitous concern is also evident in Familiaris Consortio, in which he "harvested the fruit of the bishops’ reflections during the 1980 Synod" on the Family.  Truth be told, it is hard to find any JP II talk or writing where concern for marriage/ family/ human sexuality is not apparent.

In his quarter century of addresses to the Roman Rota, JP II evidenced concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals, speaking of “the right not to be deceived by a judgment of nullity which is in conflict with the existence of a true marriage" (1/18/90).  Early on, he showed great hope that the new Code of Canon Law and its implementation (to say nothing nothing of the later Catechism and its implementation) would catalyze necessary corrections and reform.  Nearing the end of his earthly journey, grave concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals strongly reappeared, focusing on a misguided "pastoral" perspective that would destabilize marriage and family.  He spoke, for example, of:

• a dangerous exaggeration of psychological difficulties, wrongly leading to a conclusion that a spouse had been incapable of marital consent;
• the danger of adding new requirements for marriage "that are foreign to tradition" (2/1/01);
• the need for "convalidating, where possible, marriages that are otherwise null" (1/28/02);
• how "professionals in the field of civil law should avoid being personally involved in anything that might imply a cooperation with divorce" (1/28/02); and
• the "presumption of its [marriage's] validity in case of doubt" (1/29/04).

JP II's concerns apparently triggered the Vatican's 2005 Dignitas Connubii, which says that "The dignity of marriage, which between the baptised 'is the image of and the participation in the covenant of love between Christ and the Church', demands that the Church with the greatest pastoral solicitude promote marriage and the family founded in marriage, and protect and  defend them with all the means available." 

Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Rota

In Pope Benedict XVI's addresses to the Roman Rota, he followed his predecessor's cautions, reminding us that "pastoral sensitivity must be directed to avoiding matrimonial nullity when the couple seeks to marry and to striving to help the spouses solve their possible problems and find the path to reconciliation" (1/28/06) and warning that “the conviction that the pastoral good of the person in an irregular marital situation requires a sort of canonical regularization, independently of the validity or nullity of his/her marriage...has also spread in certain ecclesiastical milieus" (1/27/07). 

Pope Francis and the Roman Rota

In Pope Francis' address to the Roman Roman Rota, he was consistent with both his predecessors and his own Lumen Fidei, Evangelii Gaudium, General Audience of 4/2/14, and Discourse to the Delegation of the International Catholic Office of Children: , sketching "a brief profile of the ecclesiastical judge."

Instrumentum Laboris

Instrumentum Laboris was the preparatory document for the current synod, "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization."  Keeping with the tone of Pope Francis, Instrumentum Laboris stressed the compassionate mercy of God.  At the same time, it made clear that it stood unwaveringly with the the Church's constant teaching, citing the Bible, the Catechism, Humanae Vitae, and the Theology of the Body, among its sources.  Instrumentum Laboris maintained that, "When an overall view of marriage and the family is sufficiently set forth according to tenets of the Christian faith, its truth, goodness and beauty is clearly visible" (# 13). 

Instrumentum Laboris pays great attention to the well being of the entire family - particularly the well being of children - rather than narrowly focusing on adults.  Much is said about the well being of children in challenging situations, such as the absence of a parent, when a teen becomes a parent, and atypical home situations.  In cases of divorce, it notes that well meaning suggestions have come from Europe and North America to "streamline" determinations of marital nullity.  Instrumentum Laboris notes that inherent dangers  would include fostering "in young people’s minds the idea that marriage is not a life-long commitment" and "the mistaken idea that an annulment is simply 'Catholic divorce'" (# 99).

Instrumentum Laboris concludes that "the following three main areas ARE under discussion in the Church: how the Gospel of the Family can be preached in the present-day; how the Church’s pastoral care programme for the family might better respond to the new challenges today; how to assist parents in developing a mentality of openness to life and in upbringing their children."

Annual Addresses of the Holy Fathers to the Roma Rota (the Church's Supreme Court, if you will)

 Annual Addresses of the Holy Fathers to the Roma Rota (the Church's "Supreme Court", if you will)

In Saint Pope John Paul II's quarter century of addresses to the Roman Rota (1979 - 2005), he seemed to evidence growing and grave concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals, even focusing on a misguided "pastoral" perspective that would destabilize marriage and family.  It would appear that his concerns led to Dignitas Connubii (1/25/2005). 

In Pope Benedict XVI's addresses to the Roman Rota (2006-2013), he warned that “the conviction that the pastoral good of the person in an irregular marital situation requires a sort of canonical regularization, independently of the validity or nullity of his/her marriage...has also spread in certain ecclesiastical milieus" (1/27/07).  

In Pope Francis' first address to the Roman Roman Rota, he continued in the line of his predecessors.  In his second address (1/23/15), he spoke of 

"the many, many families that, supported and nourished by  sincere faith, realize in the effort and joy of the everyday the goods of marriage, assumed with sincerity at the moment of the wedding and pursued with fidelity and tenacity. However, the Church also knows the suffering of many family nuclei that disintegrate, leaving behind them the ruins of affective relations, plans, and common expectations....today there is a great number of faithful in irregular situations, whose histories have been strongly influenced by the widespread worldly mentality"

Yesterday, 1/22/16, marked Pope Francis' third address to the Roman Rota:

"Dear Brothers,

"I give you my cordial welcome and thank the Dean for the words with which he introduced our meeting.

"The ministry of the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota has always been to help the Successor of Peter, so that the Church, inseparably connected with the family, will continue to proclaim the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer on the sacredness and beauty of the family institute — a mission that is always timely, but which acquires particular importance in our time.

"In addition to the definition of the Roman Rota as Tribunal of the family,[1] I would like to highlight another prerogative, namely, that it is the Tribunal of the truth of the sacred bond. And these two aspects are complementary.

"The Church, in fact, can show the indefectible merciful love of God to families, in particular those wounded by sin and by the trials of life and, at the same time, proclaim the inalienable truth of marriage according to God’s plan. This service is entrusted primarily to the Pope and to the Bishops.

"In the Synodal sessions on the subject of the family, which the Lord granted us to carry out in the last two years, we were able to acquire, in a spirit and style of effective collegiality, a profound and wise discernment, thanks to which the Church has — among other things — indicated to the world that there cannot be confusion between the family willed by God and all other types of union.

"With this same spiritual and pastoral attitude, your activity — be it in judging be it in contributing to permanent formation –, assists and promotes the opus veritatis. When the Church, through your service, decides to declare the truth about marriage in a concrete case, for the good of the faithful, she has present at the same time those who by free choice and unhappy circumstances of life,[2] live in an objective state of error, continue to be the object of the merciful love of Christ and therefore of the Church herself.

"The family, founded on indissoluble, unitive and procreative marriage, belongs to God’s 'dream' and that of His Church for the salvation of humanity.[3]

"As Blessed Paul VI affirmed, the Church has always addressed 'a particular look, full of solicitude and love, to the family and its problems. Through the means of marriage and the family, God has wisely united two of the greatest human realities: the mission to transmit life and the mutual and legitimate love of man and woman, by which they are called to complete one another in a mutual donation which is not only physical but above all spiritual. Or to say it better: God willed to render spouses participants of His love: of the personal love that He has for each one of them and by which He calls them to help one another and to give themselves to each other to reach the fullness of their personal life; and of the love that He brings to humanity and to all His children, by which He desires to multiply the children of men to render them participants of His Life and His eternal felicity.'[4]

"The family and the Church, concur on different planes, to support the human being to the end of his existence. And they do so, certainly, with the teachings they transmit, but also with their nature itself as community of love and life. In fact, if one can well say that the family is the 'domestic Church,' applied to the Church rightly is the title 'family of God.' Therefore, 'the family spirit' is a constitutional charter for the Church: Christianity must appear so and be so. It is written in clear letters: 'you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God' (Ephesians 2:19). 'The Church is and must be the family of God.'[5]

"It is precisely because she is Mother and Teacher that the Church knows that, among Christians, some have a strong faith, formed by charity and reinforced by good catechesis and nourished by prayer and the sacramental life, while others have a weak faith, neglected, not formed, little educated or forgotten.

"It is good to state clearly that the quality of the faith is not an essential condition for marital consensus, which, according to the everlasting doctrine, can be undermined only at the natural level (Cf. CIC, can. 1055, paragraphs 1 and 2). In fact, the habitus fidei is infused at the moment of Baptism and continues to have a mysterious influence on the soul, even when the faith has not been developed and, psychologically, seems to be absent. It is not rare that the parties contracting marriage, driven to true marriage by the instinctus naturae, have, at the moment of the celebration, a limited awareness of the fullness of God’s plan, and only later, in family life, they discover all that God the Creator and Redeemer has established for them. The lack of formation in the faith and also the error about unity, indissolubility and the sacramental dignity of marriage vitiate the marital consensus only if they determine the will (Cf. CIC, can 1099). Precisely because of this, errors that regard the sacredness of marriage must be assessed very carefully. Therefore, with a renewed sense of responsibility, the Church continues to propose marriage in its essential elements – offspring, the good of the spouses, unity, indissolubility, sacredness[6] –, not as an ideal for a few, despite modern models centered on the ephemeral and the transitory, but as a reality that, with the grace of Christ, can be lived by all the baptized faithful. And therefore, there is greater reason for the pastoral urgency, which involves all the structures of the Church, drives to converge towards a common attempt ordered to appropriate preparation for marriage, in a sort of new catechumenate — I stress this: in a sort of new catechumenate — so desired by some Synodal Fathers.[7]

"Dear Brothers, the time we are living is very demanding, be it for the families, be it for us Pastors who are called to support them. With this awareness, I wish you good work for the New Year that the Lord gives us. I assure you of my prayer and I also count on yours. May Our Lady and Saint Joseph obtain for the Church to grow in the spirit of the family and to families to feel increasingly a living and active part of the People of God. Thank you."

"Step right up and get your annulments! Get them while they're hot!" NOT !!!

Nicole Winfield would have us believe that the Holy Father just announced: "Step right up and get your annulments!  Get them while they're hot!"  (cf, Associated Press, 1/23/15). She never touches upon what the Catechism says about indissolubility - or infallibility!  No pope may toss aside the truth about marriage / family /sexuality, as taught by Our Savior.  That truth has been reiterated in:

• Pope Leo XIII's Arcanum (2/10/1880) 

• Pope Pius XI's Casti Connubii (12/31/1930)

• Pope Pius XII's Dear Newlyweds 

• Blessed Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae (7/25/1968)

• Saint Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body (1979 - 1984) - to say nothing of Familiaris Consortio and just about any of his talks and writings!

• Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church Concerning the Reception of Holy Communion by the Divorced and Remarried Members of the Faithful (9/19/1994)

• Pontifical Council for the Family's Preparation for the Sacrament of Marriage (5/13/1996)

• Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts' Instruction to be Observed by Diocesan and Interdiocesan Tribunals in Handling Causes of the Nullity of Marriage, Dignitas Connubii (1/25/2005) 

• Pope Benedict XVI's Deus Caritas Est (12/25/2005) 

• Pope Francis' Lumen Fidei (6/29/13)

• Pope Francis' Evangelii Gaudium (11/24/13)

• Pope Francis' General Audience of 4/2/14

• Pope Francis' Discourse to the Delegation of the International Catholic Office of Children (4/11/14)

• III Extraordinary General Assembly, Instrumentum Laboris (2014): This  was the preparatory document for the "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization."  In keeping with the tone of Pope Francis, it stressed the compassionate mercy of God.  At the same time, it made clear that it stood unwaveringly with the the Church's constant teaching, citing the Bible, the Catechism, Humanae Vitae, and the Theology of the Body, among its sources.

Annual Addresses of the Holy Fathers to the Roma Rota (the Church's Supreme Court, if you will)

In Saint Pope John Paul II's quarter century of addresses to the Roman Rota (1979 - 2005), he seemed to evidence growing and grave concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals, even focusing on a misguided "pastoral" perspective that would destabilize marriage and family.  It would appear that his concerns led to Dignitas Connubii (1/25/2005).  

In Pope Benedict XVI's addresses to the Roman Rota (2006-2013), he even warned that “the conviction that the pastoral good of the person in an irregular marital situation requires a sort of canonical regularization, independently of the validity or nullity of his/her marriage...has also spread in certain ecclesiastical milieus" (1/27/07).  

In Pope Francis' first address to the Roman Roman Rota, he continued in the line of his predecessors, as well as his own Lumen Fidei, Evangelii Gaudium, General Audience of 4/2/14, and Discourse to the Delegation of the International Catholic Office of Children.  

Here's what Pope Francis actually said, yesterday (cf., http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-address-to-the-tribunal-of-the-roman-rota):

Dear Judges, Officials, Lawyers and Collaborators of the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota,

I greet you cordially, beginning with the College of Prelate Auditors with the Dean, Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto, whom I thank for the words with which he introduced our meeting. I wish you all well for the Judicial Year we open today.

On this occasion, I would like to reflect on the human and cultural context in which the matrimonial intention is formed. The crisis of values in society is certainly not a recent phenomenon. Forty years ago now Blessed Paul VI, addressing in fact the Roman Rota, stigmatized the sicknesses of modern man “at times wounded by a systematic relativism, that bends to the easiest choices of circumstance, of demagogy, of fashion, of passion, of hedonism, of selfishness, so that externally he attempts to dispute the mastery of the law, and internally, almost without realising, substitutes the empire of moral conscience with the whim of psychological consciousness” (Allocution of January 31, 1974: AAS 66 [1974], p. 87).

In fact, the abandonment of a perspective of faith results inexorably in a false knowledge of matrimony, which is not deprived of consequences in the maturation of the nuptial will. In his goodness, the Lord certainly grants the Church to rejoice for the many, many families that, supported and nourished by  sincere faith, realize in the effort and joy of the everyday the goods of marriage, assumed with sincerity at the moment of the wedding and pursued with fidelity and tenacity. However, the Church also knows the suffering of many family nuclei that disintegrate, leaving behind them the ruins of affective relations, plans, and common expectations.

The judge is called to carry out his judicial analysis where there is doubt regarding the validity of marriage, to ascertain whether there was an original shortcoming in consent, either directly in terms of a defect in the validity of intention or a grave deficit in the understanding of marriage itself to the extent of determining will (Cf. canon 1099). In fact, the crisis in marriage, indeed, not infrequently has at its root the crisis in knowledge enlightened by faith, or rather by adhesion to God and His plan of love realised in Jesus Christ.

Pastoral experience teaches us that today there is a great number of faithful in irregular situations, whose histories have been strongly influenced by the widespread worldly mentality. There exists, indeed, a sort of spiritual worldliness, “which hides behind the appearance of piety and even love for the Church” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium), and which leads to the pursuit not of the glory of God, but rather of personal well-being. One of the consequences of this attitude is “a faith hemmed in by subjectivism, interested solely in a given experience or a series of arguments and areas of knowledge believed to console or enlighten, but in which the subject in reality remains imprisoned by the immanence of his or her own reason or emotions” (Ibid., 94]. It is evident that, for one who is inclined to this mentality, faith remains deprived of its directional and normative value, leaving the field open for compromises with one’s egoism and with the pressures of the current mentality, which has become dominant through the mass media.

Therefore, the judge, in evaluating the validity of the consent given, must take into account the context of values and faith – or of their scarcity or absence – in which the matrimonial intention was formed. In fact, ignorance of the contents of the faith could lead to what the Code calls error affecting the will (Cf. can. 1099). This eventuality is no longer held exceptional as in the past, given in fact the frequent prevalence of worldly thought on the teaching of the Church. Such error not only threatens the stability of a marriage, its exclusivity and fruitfulness, but also the ordering of marriage to the good of the other, conjugal love as “vital principle” of the consensus, the mutual donation to build the consortium of one’s whole life. “Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. ” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 66, pushing the betrothed to mental reservation about the very permanence of the union, or its exclusivity, which would fail when the person loved no longer realizes his/her expectations of affective well-being

Therefore, I would like to exhort you to an increased and passionate commitment to your ministry, placed to protect the unity of the jurisprudence of the Church. How much pastoral work for the good of many couples, and many children, who are often the victims of these situations! Here too there is a need for pastoral conversion on the part of ecclesiastical structures (Cf. Ibid., 27),to be able to offer the opus iustitiae [work of justice] to all those who turn to the Church to shed light on their matrimonial situation. Here is your difficult mission, as it is for all the judges in the dioceses: do not ensnare salvation in the constrictions of legalism. The function of law is guided towards the salus animarum [salvation of souls]on the condition that, avoiding sophisms distant from the living flesh of people in difficulty, it may help to establish the truth of the moment of consent: if it was faithful to Christ or to the mendacious worldly mentality.

In this connection, Blessed Paul VI said: “If the Church is a divine design – Ecclesia de Trinitate – her institutions, though perfectible, must be established in order to communicate divine grace and foster, according to the gifts and mission of each one, the good of the faithful, essential purpose of the Church. This social objective, the salvation of souls, the salus animarum, remains the supreme objective of the institutions of law, of laws” (Address to the Participants in the 2nd International Congress of Canon Law, September 17, 1973: Communicationes 5 [1973], p. 126).

It is useful to recall what the Instruction Dignitas Connubili prescribes in n. 113, consistent with can. 1490 of the Code of Canon Law, about the necessary presence in every ecclesiastical Tribunal of persons competent in giving solicitous advice on the possibility of introducing a cause of matrimonial nullity; while the presence is also required of stable patrons, remunerated by the same tribunal, who exercise the office of lawyers.

In the hope that in every Tribunal these figures may be present to encourage real access to the justice of the Church for all the faithful, I would like to underline that a significant number of cases dealt with before the Roman Rota are enabled by legal aid granted to those whose economic situation would not otherwise allow them to engage the services of lawyer.

Dear brothers, I renew to each of you my gratitude for the good you do to the people of God, serving justice. I invoke divine assistance upon your work and I impart to you my heartfelt Apostolic Blessing.

Changing teaching on marriage / family / human sexuality? Nonsense!

Yet again, we wake to the media telling us that the Catholic Church is close to foregoing its teaching on marriage / family / sexuality (e.g., New Yorker, A Bombshell Document at the Vatican Synod, 10/13/14).  Nonsense! 

Eleventh General Congregation: unofficial Summary of the Free Discussions in the Assembly

(From the Vatican web site:) 

The eleventh general Congregation began with the presentation, in the Assembly Hall, of the "Relatio post disceptationem", read by the General Rapporteur, Cardinal Péter Erdő.

Immediately after, there followed a period of free discussion among the Synod Fathers. In general, the "Relatio post disceptationem" was appreciated for its capacity to photograph well the interventions that have been offered during this last week, capturing the spirit of the Assembly and highlighting acceptance and welcome as the principle theme of the works. The document, it was said, reveals the Church’s love for the family faithful to Christ, but also her capacity to be close to humanity in every moment of life, to understand that, behind the pastoral challenges, there are many people who suffer. The Synod, it was emphasised, should have the watchful gaze of the shepherd who devotes his life to his sheep, without a priori judgement.

Furthermore, to allow this Report to bring together various points of view to provide a basis for the work of the Small Groups, certain additional reflections were suggested: for example, while the Church must welcome those in difficulty, it would be useful to speak more widely about those families who remain faithful to the teachings of the Gospel, thanking them and encouraging them for the witness they offer. From the Synod it emerged more clearly that indissoluble, happy marriage, faithful for ever, is beautiful, possible and present in society, therefore avoiding a near-exclusive focus on imperfect family situations.

Other reflections involved giving more emphasis to the theme of women, their protection and their importance for the transmission of life and faith; to include consideration of the figure of grandparents within the family unit; more specific reference to the family as a "domestic Church" and the parish as a "family of families", and to the Holy Family, an essential model for reference. In this respect, it was also suggested that the family and missionary role in proclaiming the Gospel in the world be further promoted.

It is necessary to clarify and explore more deeply the theme of "gradualness", that may give rise to confusion. With regard to access to the sacraments for divorced and remarried persons, for instance, it was said that it is difficult to accept exceptions unless in reality they become a common rule.

It was also noted that the word "sin" is almost absent from the Relatio. The prophetic tone of Jesus’ words was also mentioned, to avoid the risk of conformity to the mentality of today’s world.

In relation to homosexuals, moreover, the need for welcome was highlighted, but with the just produced, so that the impression of a positive evaluation of such a tendency on the part of the Church is not created. The same care was advised with regard to cohabitation.

Other insights regarded the need to emphasise the importance of the sacrament of Baptism, essential for fully understanding the sacramental nature of marriage and also its character as a "ministry" in the announcement of the Gospel.

With regard to procedures for the streamlining of cases of nullity, some questions were raised regarding the proposal to entrust greater competence to the diocesan bishop, which may prove to be too great a burden, while the need for deeper and more detailed reflection was indicated in relation to cases of polygamy – especially for those who convert and wish to partake in the sacraments – and the spread of pornography, especially on the internet, which poses a real risk to family unity. Finally, in relation to openness to life on the part of couples, it is necessary to face in more detail and more decisively not only abortion, but also that of surrogacy" (http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/10/14/0754/03039.html#Traduzione%20in%20lingua%20inglese).

Instrumentum Laboris

Instrumentum Laboris was the preparatory document for the current synod, "The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization."  Keeping with the tone of Pope Francis, Instrumentum Laboris stressed the compassionate mercy of God.  At the same time, it made clear that it stood unwaveringly with the the Church's constant teaching, citing the Bible, the Catechism, Humanae Vitae, and the Theology of the Body, among its sources.  It paid great attention to the well being of the entire family - particularly the well being of children - rather than narrowly focusing on adults.  It concluded that "the following three main areas ARE under discussion in the Church: how the Gospel of the Family can be preached in the present-day; how the Church’s pastoral care programme for the family might better respond to the new challenges today; how to assist parents in developing a mentality of openness to life and in upbringing their children."
 

Pope Francis and the Roman Rota

In Pope Francis' address to the Roman Roman Rota (the Vatican's Supreme Court, if you will) he was consistent with his predecessors and his own Lumen Fidei, Evangelii Gaudium, General Audience of 4/2/14, and Discourse to the Delegation of the International Catholic Office of Children.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Rota

In Pope Benedict XVI's addresses to the Roman Rota, he noted that "pastoral sensitivity must be directed to avoiding matrimonial nullity when the couple seeks to marry and to striving to help the spouses solve their possible problems and find the path to reconciliation" (1/28/06) and warning that “the conviction that the pastoral good of the person in an irregular marital situation requires a sort of canonical regularization, independently of the validity or nullity of his/her marriage...has also spread in certain ecclesiastical milieus" (1/27/07).

Saint Pope John Paul II and the Roman Rota

Following in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII's Arcanum, Pope Pius XI's Casti Connubii, and Pope Paul VI's Humanae Vitae, Saint Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body proclaimed anew the truth about  marriage/ family/ human sexuality.  His solicitous concern for marriage/ family/ human sexuality was also evident in Familiaris Consortio and just about any talk or writing.  In his quarter century of addresses to the Roman Rota - particularly near the end of his earthly journey, he evidenced grave concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals, focusing on a misguided "pastoral" perspective that would destabilize marriage and family.  He spoke, for example, of:

• a dangerous exaggeration of psychological difficulties, wrongly leading to a conclusion that a spouse had been incapable of marital consent;
• the danger of adding new requirements for marriage "that are foreign to tradition" (2/1/01);
• the need for "convalidating, where possible, marriages that are otherwise null" (1/28/02);
• how "professionals in the field of civil law should avoid being personally involved in anything that might imply a cooperation with divorce" (1/28/02); and
• the "presumption of its [marriage's] validity in case of doubt" (1/29/04).

JP II's concerns apparently triggered the Vatican's 2005 Dignitas Connubii, which says that "The dignity of marriage, which between the baptised 'is the image of and the participation in the covenant of love between Christ and the Church', demands that the Church with the greatest pastoral solicitude promote marriage and the family founded in marriage, and protect and  defend them with all the means available." 

Like JP 2 and B 16, please CLEARLY promote, teach, and vigorously defend what the Church truly proclaims about the indissolubility of marriage.

Rather than clarity on unchanging truths about marriage and family, laity continue to receive obfuscation ultimately financed by our own Church donations!  As outlined in yesterday's unsettling article by Phil Lawler: 

"Nearly every year during his pontificate, when he delivered his annual address to the Roman Rota at the start of its judicial year, Pope John Paul II would urge the tribunal judges—and by extension, the judges on marriage tribunals in every diocese—to uphold the sanctity of the marital union....Pope Benedict XVI delivered the same message, but added that tribunals could be more efficient....Pope Francis...[has encouraged] the tribunals not only to act quickly, but also...to hand out [sic] annulments more readily. And even in cases where the tribunal could not find justification for an annulment, in Amoris Laetitia Pope Francis urged pastors to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the Eucharist in some circumstances.... Pope John Paul II ...[indicated] that in some cases a remarried couple might continue living together for the sake of their children, if they 'take on themselves the duty to live in complete continence, that is, by abstinence from the acts proper to married couples.' (Then-Cardinal Ratzinger added that even this solution would be inadequate if by living together the remarried couple caused scandal.).... [Many children] are troubled because their father, who abandoned their mother, now shows up at Mass every Sunday with his younger female companion, and does receive the Eucharist, under the vague dispensation offered in Amoris Laetitia. How do you explain that to the children, without undermining their faith in the Church’s commitment to the sanctity of marriage? And just by the way, how do you explain it without undermining the children’s confidence in the Church’s commitment to them, the abandoned offspring of the first marriage?' (Catholic Culture, 2/1/21)  Solid questions, in my opinion!

A 2/2/21 USCCB email reminded me that "Overlapping with the Year of St. Joseph will be a 'year' of reflection on Amoris Laetitia, starting March 19th and ending with the celebration of the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome on June 26th, 2022."  I can't help but wonder what Jesus' foster father would think of all this.  Why does February's email make no mention of the need to oppose the misnamed Equality Act, to support the Child Welfare Provide Inclusion Act, World Marriage Day (2/14), or National Marriage Week (2/7-2/14)?

 

With the seemingly dismissive treatment of authentic marriage/family, I charitably doubt that many bishops, priests, deacons, and diocesan officials have even read the recent papal addresses to the Roman Rota or Dignitas Connubii.  Especially because those of Saint Pope John Paul II have become increasingly difficult to locate, I am providing links below:

• Speeches of Pope Francis to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 (Italian))
• Speeches of Pope Benedict XVI to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota (2006 - 2013)
• Speeches of Pope John Paul II to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 (Italian), 1984 (Italian), 1986, 1987 (Italian), 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)

• "The dignity of marriage, which between the baptised 'is the image of and the participation in the covenant of love between Christ and the Church'(1), demands that the Church with the greatest pastoral solicitude promote marriage and the family founded in marriage, and protect and defend them with all the means available....[Vatican II] does not fail to point out that marriage by its nature is an institution founded by the Creator and endowed by his laws(4), and that its essential properties are unity and indissolubility, 'which in a Christian marriage by reason of the sacrament obtain a particular firmness' (can. 1056)....as John Paul II affirms, 'in a vision of authentic personalism, the Church's teaching implies the affirmation that marriage can be established as an indissoluble bond between the persons of the spouses, a bond essentially ordered to the good of the spouses themselves and of their children'(7)....it falls to the Bishops, and this should weigh heavily on their consciences, to see to it that suitable ministers of justice for their tribunals are trained in canon law appropriately and in a timely manner, and are prepared by suitable practice to instruct causes of marriage properly and decide them correctly" (Instruction Dignitas Connubii, Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, 1/25/2005).

“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband."

Jesus said to her,
“Go call your husband and come back.”
The woman answered and said to Him,
“I do not have a husband.”
Jesus answered her,
“You are right in saying, ‘I do not have a husband.’
For you have had five husbands,
and the one you have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true”
(from the Gospel for the Third Sunday of Lent - Year A Scrutinies)

Addresses of the Holy Fathers to the Roman Rota

• Pope Francis' third address to the Roman Rota (1/22/16):

"Dear Brothers,

"I give you my cordial welcome and thank the Dean for the words with which he introduced our meeting.

"The ministry of the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota has always been to help the Successor of Peter, so that the Church, inseparably connected with the family, will continue to proclaim the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer on the sacredness and beauty of the family institute — a mission that is always timely, but which acquires particular importance in our time.

"In addition to the definition of the Roman Rota as Tribunal of the family,[1] I would like to highlight another prerogative, namely, that it is the Tribunal of the truth of the sacred bond. And these two aspects are complementary.

"The Church, in fact, can show the indefectible merciful love of God to families, in particular those wounded by sin and by the trials of life and, at the same time, proclaim the inalienable truth of marriage according to God’s plan. This service is entrusted primarily to the Pope and to the Bishops.

"In the Synodal sessions on the subject of the family, which the Lord granted us to carry out in the last two years, we were able to acquire, in a spirit and style of effective collegiality, a profound and wise discernment, thanks to which the Church has — among other things — indicated to the world that there cannot be confusion between the family willed by God and all other types of union.

"With this same spiritual and pastoral attitude, your activity — be it in judging be it in contributing to permanent formation –, assists and promotes the opus veritatis. When the Church, through your service, decides to declare the truth about marriage in a concrete case, for the good of the faithful, she has present at the same time those who by free choice and unhappy circumstances of life,[2] live in an objective state of error, continue to be the object of the merciful love of Christ and therefore of the Church herself.

"The family, founded on indissoluble, unitive and procreative marriage, belongs to God’s 'dream' and that of His Church for the salvation of humanity.[3]

"As Blessed Paul VI affirmed, the Church has always addressed 'a particular look, full of solicitude and love, to the family and its problems. Through the means of marriage and the family, God has wisely united two of the greatest human realities: the mission to transmit life and the mutual and legitimate love of man and woman, by which they are called to complete one another in a mutual donation which is not only physical but above all spiritual. Or to say it better: God willed to render spouses participants of His love: of the personal love that He has for each one of them and by which He calls them to help one another and to give themselves to each other to reach the fullness of their personal life; and of the love that He brings to humanity and to all His children, by which He desires to multiply the children of men to render them participants of His Life and His eternal felicity.'[4]

"The family and the Church, concur on different planes, to support the human being to the end of his existence. And they do so, certainly, with the teachings they transmit, but also with their nature itself as community of love and life. In fact, if one can well say that the family is the 'domestic Church,' applied to the Church rightly is the title 'family of God.' Therefore, 'the family spirit' is a constitutional charter for the Church: Christianity must appear so and be so. It is written in clear letters: 'you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God' (Ephesians 2:19). 'The Church is and must be the family of God.'[5]

"It is precisely because she is Mother and Teacher that the Church knows that, among Christians, some have a strong faith, formed by charity and reinforced by good catechesis and nourished by prayer and the sacramental life, while others have a weak faith, neglected, not formed, little educated or forgotten.

"It is good to state clearly that the quality of the faith is not an essential condition for marital consensus, which, according to the everlasting doctrine, can be undermined only at the natural level (Cf. CIC, can. 1055, paragraphs 1 and 2). In fact, the habitus fidei is infused at the moment of Baptism and continues to have a mysterious influence on the soul, even when the faith has not been developed and, psychologically, seems to be absent. It is not rare that the parties contracting marriage, driven to true marriage by the instinctus naturae, have, at the moment of the celebration, a limited awareness of the fullness of God’s plan, and only later, in family life, they discover all that God the Creator and Redeemer has established for them. The lack of formation in the faith and also the error about unity, indissolubility and the sacramental dignity of marriage vitiate the marital consensus only if they determine the will (Cf. CIC, can 1099). Precisely because of this, errors that regard the sacredness of marriage must be assessed very carefully. Therefore, with a renewed sense of responsibility, the Church continues to propose marriage in its essential elements – offspring, the good of the spouses, unity, indissolubility, sacredness[6] –, not as an ideal for a few, despite modern models centered on the ephemeral and the transitory, but as a reality that, with the grace of Christ, can be lived by all the baptized faithful. And therefore, there is greater reason for the pastoral urgency, which involves all the structures of the Church, drives to converge towards a common attempt ordered to appropriate preparation for marriage, in a sort of new catechumenate — I stress this: in a sort of new catechumenate — so desired by some Synodal Fathers.[7]

"Dear Brothers, the time we are living is very demanding, be it for the families, be it for us Pastors who are called to support them. With this awareness, I wish you good work for the New Year that the Lord gives us. I assure you of my prayer and I also count on yours. May Our Lady and Saint Joseph obtain for the Church to grow in the spirit of the family and to families to feel increasingly a living and active part of the People of God. Thank you."

• Pope Francis' second address (1/23/15):

"....the many, many families that, supported and nourished by  sincere faith, realize in the effort and joy of the everyday the goods of marriage, assumed with sincerity at the moment of the wedding and pursued with fidelity and tenacity. However, the Church also knows the suffering of many family nuclei that disintegrate, leaving behind them the ruins of affective relations, plans, and common expectations....today there is a great number of faithful in irregular situations, whose histories have been strongly influenced by the widespread worldly mentality...."

• Pope Francis' first address (1/24/14) 

 

• Pope Benedict XVI's addresses (2006 to 2013) 

“the conviction that the pastoral good of the person in an irregular marital situation requires a sort of canonical regularization, independently of the validity or nullity of his/her marriage...has also spread in certain ecclesiastical milieus" (1/27/07)

• .Saint Pope John Paul II's quarter century of addresses (1979 to 2005)

He seemed to evidence growing and grave concern about possible misuse of marriage tribunals, even focusing on a misguided "pastoral" perspective that would destabilize marriage and family.  It would appear that his concerns led to Dignitas Connubii (1/25/2005).