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 What are the valid reasons for annulment?
Learn what the Catholic Church Really teaches about Divorce and Annulment:
This page summarizes statements made by Church's Headquarters in contrast to statements made by Regional  Representatives

Headquarters  Authoritative teaching for all Catholics.
Dignitas connubii(Dignity of Marriage), Instruction Handling Nullity. Press Release VATICAN CITY, FEB 8, 2005
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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." [a different press release from USCCB]
Annulment Reform Needed, Vatican Official Says September 17, 2004
Marriage tribunals in some countries are abusing Church laws regarding annulments, a leading Vatican authority has charged.  ... That was the testimony of Joaquin Llobel, a canon-law instructor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross and a member of the tribunal for the Apostolic Signatura.
Interview With Father Miguel Ortiz, Professor of Canonical Marital Law Rome Sept. 22, 2004
The failure of a marriage does not necessarily imply its nullity.
Catechism 2382 
The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble. He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.  Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death."
Can. 1060
Marriage enjoys the favour of law. Consequently, in doubt the validity of a marriage must be upheld until the contrary is proven.
Pope to the Roman Rota, Jan 29, 2005
“in the current circumstances there is also the threat of another risk. In the name of what they claim to be pastoral requirements, some voices have been raised proposing to declare marriages that have totally failed null and void. These persons propose that in order to obtain this result, recourse should be made ... simulating the existence of an authentic judicial verdict.”
Pope to Roman Rota, Jan. 29, 2004
The pope cautions tribunal judges against presuming a marriage is invalid just because the couple (or one party) failed at keeping their matrimonial promises.
Pope to US Bishops, Blasts Number Of Annulments 1998
Pope John Paul II (bio - news), meeting with a delegation of US bishops on Saturday, expressed his dissatisfaction with the number of annulments being granted to Catholics.
Pope to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota 1978-2004
All of the address are on one webpage
Capacity to Consent, Mentality of Divorce. Vatican's Team of 1983 Canon Law Editor, Cardinal Egan
It is incorrect to believe that "When a couple consents to marriage, they do it .. by exchanging the right to some additional thing or things without which the marriage would be invalid. ...  : an interpersonal relationship, a community of life and love, self-completion, self-development, and self-fulfillment."
Psychological Reasons, and Lack of Discretion: Vatican's Team 1983 Canon Law Editor, Cardinal Egan, Rota's Scholarly Journal 1983
The valid psychological reasons acceptable to demonstrate a marriage is invalid are clearly limited. Canon 1095
Incapacity to Fulfill the Essential Obligations Vatican's Team 1983 Canon Law Editor, Cardinal Egan Rota's Scholarly Journal 1984
Exposes false discovery from the 60's and 70's that spouses didn't have the capacity to marry if they didn't achieve  "their mutual fulfillment,  completion, integration, and enrichment." Canon 1095
Roman Rota Auditor, Rev. Msgr. Cormac Burke
Lack of discretion or incapacity can invalidate consent. But only the incapacity to promise the essential rights and obligations of marriage: to promise exclusivity (no adultery), to promise procreativity (be open to children), and to promise marriage till death.  Couples aren't expected to consent to promise to make the other happy, or promise to have children; these are the results (ends) of marriage. The ends of marriage are distinguished from the essential obligations of consent.
Catholic United for the Faith, Fact Sheet (download pdf 5pgs)
One cannot use the internal forum to decide that one's marriage is null based on one's own conscience.  An adulterous spouse is not grounds for annulmnet and is not justification for marrying a new partner.  Adultery occurs if one marries a second person, while the first marriage is valid, as all are assumed to be valid until proven otherwise as determined by Catholic Tribunal.  Quotes Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.
Homiletic and Pastoral Review Too Many Invalid Annulments  Dec 1993
Obviously the United States suffers from a divorce mentality. ... Now the American divorce mentality has found its exact counterpart in the scandal of a Catholic American annulment mentality, all the more scandalous because it has come to affect non-Catholics and non-Christians as well as Catholics.
Homiletic and Pastoral Review Jan 2005 by Sheryl Tamaat
Article critiques the methods taught by Fr. Lawrence Wrenn, respected leader in the 501(c)(3) Canon Law Society of America. "... Rotal jurisprudence requires serious reasons for issuing declarations of nullity, whereas Fr. Wrenn is willing to include nearly everyone.  Fr. Wrenn is willing to harden hearts. "
American Annulment Mills Homiletic and Pastoral Review Dec 2005 by Robert Kendra
It is anybody’s guess how many valid sacramental marriages are nullified by phony annulments followed by remarriage.
Reasons for Annulment July 2005
Sheryl Temaat describes reasons for annulment while citing scholarly journal of the Roman Rota
30 days in the Chruch and in the World May 2004
Analysis of the data on the causes of marriage annulment broken down by nation
Internal Forum Solution what it is and is not
(Q) I've heard that instead of receiving an annulment, there's an "internal forum solution" that allows re-married Catholics to continue receiving the Sacraments without having to get an annulment of their prior marriage(s). Is this true? (A) Yes, and no. There is an internal forum solution, but it is probably not what you might think it is.

Regional Representatives Contradict authoritative Church teaching. DISSENTING
Canon Law Society of America (CLSA), Fr. Wrenn's reasons for annulment could invalidate all marriages.
Working out a couple of hours a day in the gym.  Seeming to be obsessed with one's body (personal appearance). Still yearning for a father's love. Feeling deprived of the love and affection that other couples had. Suffering from low self-esteem, self-absorption, and a need for attention. Not achieving the desired companionship and intimacy one wants in marriage. DISSENTING
Dennis and Kay Flowers with Imprimatur from US Bishop
[Spouses] agree to place each other's needs and the needs of their family before their own, to try to resolve conflicts, to support and help their spouse's relationship with Christ; in short, they are promising to love each other with God's sacrificial, unconditional love. ... But suppose a bride or groom (or both) comes to the wedding with ... less caring intentions, either conscious or subconscious. Already, that marriage harbors pre-existing conditions ...  does not have the proper foundation to be sacramental in nature." (pg 9) DISSENTING
St. Anthony Messenger, Fr. John Catoir, Paterson New Jersey
It is only because of our new knowledge in the field of psychology that we have come to understand that a latent condition can affect the consent retroactively ... Forty years ago people were told, 'You made your bed, now lie in it.' This is too simplistic a rule when it comes to mental or emotional illness. We learned this new jurisprudence from the Sacred Roman Rota." DISSENTING
CLSA, Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (AARC),  James Beichler
Beichler states, essentially, that Vatican officials are not pastoral and therefore have no business defining a second marriage as a grave manifest sin. The Vatican offices are vindictive, dissenting from Vatican II teaching and playing a power game.  DISSENTING

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