Reflections on the changes in the annulment process

Friday, Oct. 30, 2015

(Editor’s note: This is the final part of a series on the reform of the Catholic Church’s annulment process.)

It is not by coincidence that Pope Francis’ reform of laws pertaining to marriage was announced on Sept. 8, prior to his visit to Cuba and the United States, on the evening of the Synod of Bishops, and shortly before the extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy that will begin on Dec. 8, the very same day these changes to marriage law take effect. Pope Francis’ promulgation of the Motu Proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus was driven by a pastoral desire to lift the darkness of doubt from people’s hearts about their marital status.

It is important to turn to the Scriptures to look closely at Jesus’ dealings with similar painful, human situations. For example, in Mark’s Gospel (10:2-16) the Pharisees confront Jesus with the divisive issue of divorce and its legitimacy: “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?”

“What did Moses command you?” Jesus asked. They replied that Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss the wife. Jesus declares that the law of Moses permitted divorce (Deut 24:1) only because of the hardness of hearts (Mk 10:4-5). In citing Genesis 1:27 and 2:24, Jesus proclaims permanence to be the divine intent from the beginning concerning human marriage (Mk 10:6-8). He reaffirms this with the declaration that what God has joined together no human being must separate (9).

Jesus wisely and prudently responds to the loaded question by appealing to God’s plan of complete unity and equality in drawing men and women together in marriage. He affirms that husband and wife are united so intimately that they actually become one and indivisible (unity and indissolubility of marriage). In answering a direct question that was deliberately designed to entrap him, Jesus was speaking of the nature of marriage and of that only. His emphasis is on its holiness and covenant fidelity and not on the illegitimacy of divorce. The goal of marriage is not divorce and annulment but rather a communion of life and love.

Jesus did not condemn people who did their best and ended up divorced. He was not judging such people, throwing them out of the community of the Church, or assigning them places in hell. He was only affirming the outlook taken by couples themselves when they stand before the Church’s minister and pronounce their wedding vows. The Church has gained awareness that once they are married, couples face a significant number of challenges in their conjugal life.

Some divorced men and women have erroneously been told by well-meaning people that they are excommunicated from the Catholic Church, which is certainly not true. Their pain is often enormous; their need for understanding and acceptance is great. They need unambiguous Catholic teaching to enlighten them and lead them to Christ. They need friends, people to pray for and with them, and they need God in their lives in the midst of rupture and brokenness. They deserve understanding and prayerful care.

As a possible instrument to understand the implications of marriage and the steps of the annulment process, a positive teaching on annulments must be offered through different venues of ministry. Though it may be a tedious and painful process for some people, an annulment can be an instrument of grace, healing, closure, and peace of mind and heart. In our pastoral strategies, how do we welcome the sanctifying role of Jesus Christ in the marriage of a man and woman? Are we ready to offer Jesus’ teaching on marriage with the openness to children? What are some of the weaknesses and painful situations that afflict marriages today? Can these marriages be saved and the brokenness in the husband-wife relationships be healed? What is the role of faith in all of this?

The new norms promulgated by Pope Francis are calling us to pray for married people, that they may grow in this awareness of the sacramentality of marriage and its capacity to reflect the love of God to our world. 

Let us never forget those who have loved and lost, and those who have suffered the pain of separation, divorce and alienation. May they find healing in the community of the Church, and welcome from those whose marriages have been so fruitful.