Vatican CITY – The potential loss of money and authority is often at the heart of the opposition against reforming the Catholic Church’s annulment process, Pope Francis said.
Building on his comments prepared during a meeting on January 29 with members of the Roman Route, a court that deals primarily with marriage cases, the pope said that after implementing reforms that simplified annulments in 2015, he “received many letters” and encountered “so much resistance.”
“Almost everyone was a lawyer who was losing clients. And there is the money problem, ”he said. “In Spain, there is a saying that says ‘Por la plata baila el mono’ – ‘Monkeys dance for money.’ It is a clear saying. “
The Pope also said he was saddened to see “resistance in some dioceses from some judicial vicar who would lose, I don’t know, a certain form of power because it was clear that he is not the judge, but the bishop is.”
In September 2015, the Pope issued two documents – “Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus” (“The Lord Jesus, the Gentle Judge”) for the Latin rite church and “Mitis et misericors Iesus” (“The meek and merciful Jesus”) for Eastern Catholic churches – the reformed sections of canon law dealing with requests for a declaration of nullity of marriage.
The documents also emphasized that the annulment process would be free or as close as possible.
The reforms – which eliminate automatic recourse from all decisions, give diocesan bishops the responsibility for handling some cases and institute an abbreviated process for cases where the evidence is especially clear and unchallenged – aimed at streamlining the process and helping couples in need of healing.
Continuing to speak impromptu, the pope remembered having received a call from a bishop shortly after the reformulation of the reformed annulment process.
“He said to me, ‘I have this problem. There is a woman who wants to get married in the church; she has been married in the church for several years, but was forced to marry because she was pregnant. I did everything: I asked a priest to serve as a judicial vicar, another to serve as a defender of the bond. And the witnesses, the parents said that yes, she was forced and that the marriage was null and void. Tell me, Holy Father, what should I do? ‘”recalled the Pope.
“I asked him, ‘Tell me, do you have a pen in your hand?’ – ‘Yes.’ – ‘Sign it. You are the judge, without all the fuss. ‘ “
In his prepared comments, the pope told the judges that declaring a marriage null should not be a cold decision that neglects the well-being of family members, especially children.
“The declaration of matrimonial nullity is often seen as the cold act of a purely legal decision,” he said. “But it is not and cannot be. The judgment of the ecclesiastical judge cannot disregard the memories – made of light and shadow – that marked the life, not only of the two spouses, but also of the children ”.
Pope Francis reminded members of the Roman Route that his “ecclesial ministry” is “a difficult but not impossible pastoral work”, which involves concern for children who are “innocent victims of so many situations of separation, divorce and new civil unions . “
He also highlighted the important role of judicial vicar, priests and pastoral agents of families in the care and accompaniment of families, especially spouses and children “who suffer the decisions, even if just and legitimate, of marriage annulment”.
“The creativity of charity will foster an evangelical sensitivity in the face of family tragedies whose protagonists cannot be forgotten,” said the pope.