Pope Francis has ordered a review aimed at simplifying the Church’s procedures for marriage annulments.
An 11-member commission, announced on Saturday, will seek to “simplify the (annulment) procedure, making it more streamlined, while safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of marriage”, the Vatican said.
The commission is made up of canon lawyers and theologians and will be chaired by Msgr Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota.
The Vatican statement added that “the work of the Commission will start as soon as possible”.
Its goal will be “to prepare a proposal of reform of the matrimonial process, with the objective of simplifying its procedure, making it more streamlined, and safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of matrimony”.
An annulment, formally known as a “decree of nullity”, is a ruling that a marriage was not valid in the first place according to Church law.
This is because certain pre-requisites, such as free will, psychological maturity and openness to having children, were lacking.
In the past decades many Catholics have complained that the procedure is too complicated, costly and archaic.
Most annulments take place at the local diocesan level.
Each decision must be reviewed by a second tribunal, a step reformers say is superfluous and should be eliminated.
Flying back from World Youth Day in Brazil last year, Pope Francis told reporters that the annulment process needs to be reformed and streamlined.
On Friday, the Pope warned against “codifying the faith in rules and instructions”.
But some commentators said this appeared to allude to a theological skirmish between senior cardinals on the question of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried.
“Faced with so many pastoral requirements, faced with the requests of men and women, we run the risk of becoming afraid and of turning in on ourselves in a fearful and defensive manner . . . ,” the Pope said.
“This fear leads to the temptation to be self-satisfied and to clericalism, to codify the faith in rules and instructions just as was done by the Pharisees, the scribes and the doctors of law in Jesus’ time . . . .”
“It is not the Pope’s job to offer a full and detailed assessment of contemporary reality, but he invites all the Church to grasp the signs of the times . . . ,” the Pope added.
Sources