Catholic Church, divorce, and "annulments"

by Sr. Kathleen Bierne, PBVM

The Catholic Church has always stood firm on its commitment to marriage. This is true even though, through the centuries, the interpretation of that commitment has varied with cultural differences and increased understanding of human development. It is helpful in this present age of cultural shifts and social change to review how the Catholic Church views marriage, divorce and the process of granting a declaration of invalidity, or an annulment.

From the beginning of time, at least as it is recorded in the book of Genesis, God intended that man and woman were created as helpmates for one another and to bring forth new life. When sin entered into the world, those two purposes of creation were skewed, and since that time humanity has struggled to attain balance in all relationships, and in particular in marriage, the most intimate of relationships. When Jesus was asked about divorce, his response was that in the beginning that was not God’s plan. Catholics have always believed that marriage is a holy bond, governed even by the natural law. This belief existed long before marriage was declared one of the seven sacraments, toward the end of the thirteenth century. From the fourth century, the Church has taught that marriage involves three basic criteria. These are permanence, fidelity and openness to children. At the end of Vatican II, Pope Paul VI identified a fourth criteria as that of the good of the spouse, confirming the original "helpmate" concept from Genesis. Theologically, the Catholic Church believes that marriage, every marriage, is a holy bond that requires permanence, fidelity, openness to children and openness to the good or the well-being of the other person. Between the baptized, that bond also shares in sacramental grace, the partners actually pledge to make each other holy, to be a conduit of grace for one another, to be a reflection of Christ’s relationship to the Church.

Every marriage is both a spiritual and a civil union; both public and personal. When a marriage fails and the parties divorce, this ends the civil bond, but not the spiritual or sacramental one. Sometimes people go through a public ceremony called a wedding, but a marriage, the bond of a partnership of life, does not form. It is important to stress that divorce does not, in any way, separate one from the life of the Church. A divorce may have moral implications for the conscience of the person and it is always a painful decision. Nevertheless, sometimes it is the right decision. God does not ask anyone to live in a relationship that is destroying the partners or the children. However, a civil divorce does not free a person to marry a second time in the Catholic Church. That is why our Church has always taught that a marriage that ends in divorce is to be brought to the Church for evaluation and judgment as to whether it possessed at the beginning the four essential elements mentioned.

The Church also asks whether or not the two people entering into that union were both knowledgeable and capable, and whether they intended to live out the essential obligations of the vocation. If this study finds that something was missing in their consent, or the union did not, from the beginning, possess the essential qualities of permanence, fidelity, openness to children and openness to the spouse, then the Church, through the office of the diocesan tribunal, may grant a declaration that from the beginning this was not a valid/sacramental bond. Because marriage took place as a public action, the declaration must also be a public action, in so far as it must come to the Church for resolution of the spiritual or sacramental aspect of it.

First of all, the Church takes marriage very seriously. It is the vocation that most people choose and it is one of the most serious decisions a person will ever make. People need a certain amount of maturity and life experience to know even what they are choosing. They ought not slide into marriage through pre-marital sex, co-habitation or even the presence of pregnancy or a child. For sure the decision ought to be made without any addiction or habitual abuse masking the true personality of the other. Second, children born to a civil marriage are always considered legitimate and a declaration that the union did not meet the sacramental criteria does not change the status of the children. Third, if people enter into a civil marriage before they have brought their failed marriage to the Church for study, they are not free to receive the Eucharist, because they are not in what the Church considers a lawful union. However, they are not separated from the life of the Church and they are to be welcomed to participate as fully as they can in the faith life of the community. In the United States, about one out of ten marriages that ends in divorce is brought for review by the Church. The Tribunal will not even review a case until a civil divorce is final. Fourth, people often ask how long the process takes. The New Ulm diocese is able to process a case in about a year. The reason it takes that long is because of limited personnel to do the work and the people who make the decision must all have church or canon law degrees. The law requires that the cases are resolved in the order in which they are received, except for emergency situations. Another question is how much it costs. Neither the late Bishop Raymond A. Lucker nor Bishop John C. Nienstedt have allowed a specific charge for the service. Rather, at the end of the case the petitioner is told that the approximate cost of processing a case is about $6-800 and they are asked to contribute up to half of that amount if they can do so. No case is ever dependent on a contribution.

Sometimes the tribunal cannot find the evidence required to prove that the marriage was not valid and a declaration cannot be granted. That does not happen very often, maybe two or three times a year out of the 60-70 cases the New Ulm Tribunal processes. The judge can only make a decision based on the information that the people provide. Those who work with any of the tribunal processes, from judges to advocates and auditors, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide decisions, to heal the hurt of divorce, and to prepare people to love and trust again.

For further information, contact the Office of the Tribunal, 1400 6th St. North, New Ulm, MN, 56073, (507) 359-2966.