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Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
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                               VIS-Press releases

PRESENTATION OF INSTRUCTION ABOUT NORMS IN MARRIAGE CASES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 8, 2005 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office,
there was the presentation of "'Dignitas connubii' (Dignity of Marriage),
Instruction to be Observed by Diocesan and Interdiocesan Tribunals in Handling
Causes of the Nullity of Marriage. The Instruction was prepared by the
Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, with the collaboration of other
dicasteries.

Participants included: Cardinal Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical
Council for Legislative Texts, Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., secretary of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Archbishop Domenico Sorrentino,
secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of
Sacraments, Bishop Velasio De Paolis C.S., secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of
the Apostolic Signatura and Bishop Antoni Stankiewicz, dean of the Tribunal of
the Roman Rota.

Cardinal Julian Herranz explained that the Instruction Dignitas connubii aims
to offer judges in ecclesial courts "a practical document, a kind of vademecum
to use as a ready guide for carrying out their duties in canonical hearings on
the nullity of marriage." A similar document, the Instruction "Provida Mater,"
was published in 1936, relating to the Code of Canon Law of 1917.

Dignitas connubii, said Cardinal Herranz, seeks to facilitate the consultation
and application of the 1983 edition of the Code of Canon Law, bringing together
all norms referring to the canonical process for nullity of marriage (unlike
the CIC where these norms are scattered in different places through the text)
and includes the juridical developments that have arisen since the publication
of the Code: authentic interpretations of the Pontifical Council for
Legislative Texts, answers of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura,
jurisprudence of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. The Instruction "does not
limit itself to repeating the text of the Canons, but contains interpretations,
clarifications on the provisions of law, and further provisions on procedures
for its implementation."

"This Instruction comes as a confirmation of the need to submit the question of
the validity or nullity of the marriage of the faithful to a truly judicial
process." At times, said Cardinal Herranz, "simpler" solutions are suggested,
which would even solve the problem directly "in the heart of individuals,
through the so-called 'nullity of conscience'" in which the Church "has no
other role than taking note of the conviction of the spouses themselves
concerning the validity or otherwise of their marriage." At other times the
hope is expressed "that the Church renounce any form of hearing, leaving these
juridical problems in the hands of civil courts."

"On the contrary, the Church reiterates her competency to concern herself with
these causes, because on them depend the existence of the marriage" of her
faithful, "above all considering that marriage is one of the seven Sacraments
instituted by Christ Himself." To ignore this problem would in practice "be
tantamount to casting a shadow over the sacramental nature of marriage itself.
This would be even more incomprehensible in the current circumstances of
confusion on the natural identity of marriage and of the family in certain
forms of civil legislation that not only welcome and facilitate divorce but
even, in some cases, cast doubt on heterosexuality as an essential aspect of
marriage."

In closing, Cardinal Herranz confirmed that in the context of a "divorcist"
mentality, "even canonical nullity hearings can easily be misinterpreted, as if
they were nothing more than ways to obtain a divorce with the apparent approval
of the Church." The difference between annulment and divorce would thus be
"purely nominal, and by the skillful manipulation of causes of nullity, all
failed marriages would be nullified." By contrast, the Roman Pontiffs "have
often expressed the true sense of nullity of marriage, inseparable from the
search for truth because the declaration of nullity does not mean dissolving an
existing bond, but rather the recognition, in the name of the Church, of the
nonexistence of a true marriage right from the beginning. Moreover, the Church
favors the validation of nullified marriages when this is possible. John Paul
II explained it in these words: 'The spouses themselves must be the first to
realize that only in the loyal quest for the truth can they find their true
good, without excluding a priori the possible validation of a union that,
although it is not yet a sacramental marriage, contains elements of good, for
themselves and their children, that should be carefully evaluated in conscience
before reaching a different decision'." (Address to the Roman Rota, January 28,
2002).

Also on the subject of the search for truth in hearings on the nullity of
marriage, Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B. highlighted the fact that article 65,
para. 2 of the Instruction states that the judge must urge the parties to a
sincere search for the truth. If he does not manage to bring the spouses to
validate their marriage and re-establish conjugal life "the judge is to urge
the spouses to work together sincerely, putting aside any personal desire and
living the truth in charity, in order to arrive at the objective truth, as the
very nature of a marriage cause demands."

Bishop De Paolis noted that the "Instruction concerns nearly 800 diocesan or
interdiocesan tribunals of the Latin Church that almost exclusively deal with
cases of marriage nullity," which "have increased enormously in recent decades,
especially in countries of long Christian tradition." He added that, among the
causes, are: "widespread secularization which has an erroneous concept of
marriage compared to the ideal proposed by the Church; a more precise knowledge
of human psychology allowing for a better determination that matrimonial
consent was not sufficient, and the fact that "many faithful, having obtained a
civil divorce and the possibility to remarry according to civil law, ask for a
declaration of nullity because they know that for a Catholic a valid marriage
can only be that celebrated according to Church laws."

He then gave some statistics for the year 2002: of the 56,236 ordinary hearings
for a declaration of nullity, 46,092 received an affirmative sentence. Of
these, 343 were handed out in Africa, 676 in Oceania, 1,562 in Asia, 8,855 in
Europe and 36,656 in America, of which 30,968 in North America and 5,688 in
Central and South America.

Bishop Antoni Stankiewicz explained that "the just-presented Instruction
disciplines in 61 articles (155-216 in Title VII, "Proofs") the instruments,
that is, the means of proof in the search for objective truth in matrimonial
hearings, placed at the disposition of the parties and of the judge, to allow
for the ascertainment of facts alleged by the spouses-parties to the cause, and
relevant for the nullity of the contested marriage. Only on the basis of the
effectiveness of the results of the means of proof, admitted in the marriage
causes, such as the declarations of the parties (art. 177-182), the documents
(art. 183-192), the witnesses (art. 193-202), the experts (art. 203- 213), and
the presumptions (art. 214-216) can the judge reach moral certainty on the
cause to decide with a confirmatory sentence or decree."

"It is not a question," he said, "of absolute certainty, ... or purely
subjective certainty, ... but of moral objective certainty, based objectively
on the acts and the results of the proofs. In fact, according to the new norm,
'In order to declare the nullity of marriage there is required in the mind of
the judge moral certainty of its nullity (art 247, para 1)'."

Dignitas Connubii is available in the official Latin text with English
translation and also in Latin/Italian. It consists of a "Proemium" or
Introduction, Preliminary Articles and 15 Titles, most of which are subdivided
into Chapters.
OP/INSTRUCTION NULLITY MARRIAGE/HERRANZ VIS 050204 (1280)

SUMMARY

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