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Authoritative teaching for all Catholics.
Dignitas
connubii(Dignity of Marriage), Instruction Handling Nullity. Press
Release VATICAN CITY, FEB 8, 2005
purchase
now - US distributor
- Read Excerpts
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
Mary's Advocates will be adding more
to this list.