NOW THIS IS NEWS

You probably heard a lot about annulments and the Catholic Church today.

This is great news for people who want an annulment but is meeting with mixed reviews by those who will be in charge of granting them.  So here are a couple of things to keep in mind while this gets sorted out.

1. The Church is not in the business of granting annulments, the state is.  Tell a canon lawyer that you want an annulment and he will sigh and roll his eyes and say as much.  It is impossible for the Church to nullify a marriage, the Church can simply recognize that there was a "fatal flaw" of sorts and that a sacramental marriage was never truly established.  

2. Pope Francis wants the costs greatly reduced.  In many places, such as the Diocese of Cleveland, it is already a free service of the diocese.  But for those in other places this is great news.

Now to be sure, the nullity process is cumbersome and I have long wished that it could be simplified. But part of the lengthening of the process was to put safeguards in place to protect the people involved as well as the upholding of the sanctity and indissolubility of marriage.  So now, many of the safeguards that were put in to place to make sure that there were no abuses to the system are being removed which will greatly cut down on the time and fuss.  

If I read correctly, the final buck stops with the bishop to make the final call (there has GOT to be a way around this) instead of a Tribunal judge.  The bishop must already confirm every Catholic in the diocese, approve all major work projects, run seminaries, hospitals, and school systems, speak out on important topics, and a billion other things that I won' even think of (please. Lord, NEVER make me a bishop) and now he must determine every nullity case in the diocese.  So now, not only does he have to review every case, there is now a time limit set by the pope.  How careful will a bishop be able to be?

So here is the problem that each bishop much work out before December 9th:

1. You will have to find a new way to pay for this process.

2. You will have to personally find a way to handle the cases.

3. You must do it more quickly.

It reminds me of a sign I saw in store once: 

You may pick two of the following:

You may have your project done - 

       1. Quickly

       2. Cheaply

       3. Well

Alright bishops:  There is your mandate.  You do not get to choose to you must do all three.

I am both excited about this and worried.  

THROUGH NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN

Someone out there may already have a solution to this problem or perhaps have an insight from being a person who finds themselves affected by this problem. So before we spend too much brain time on it I thought I would throw it out to you for you in put.

As parish many of our programs assume that children are from relatively intact families and can meet the demands of our programs. More and more however this is not the case. So we have a sacramental program and a child does not show up much of the time. It might be a little less worrisome for programs that meet weekly as a child may be caught up. But when a program meets monthly or even every other month and they miss half of those the program is essentially gutted for them.

Now there are those that are simply choosing other programs over their sacramental training (backed by their parents! “They can’t miss basketball think of the team!” Of course I am more concerned about their immortal soul. Neither of us can understand the point of view of the other.) This is an entirely different topic. This problem is more difficult. It concerns the children of divorced parents.

Too often one parent can only have a child here every other week. Maybe. Just as often the other parent does not want anything to do with the faith so there is absolutely no support from that end. So we have a child who, through no fault of their own, has little tie to the community, comes to Mass and sacraments spottily, and who knows little about the faith.

It is not like all the kids that this affects have the same schedule or are in the same grade so there is a need to cover all grades and one any given day or time. As a parish we are already understaffed and a volunteer (after they are Virtus trained etc.) would have to be able to teach a child of any given grade and tropic at any given time. We might ask a guardian or parent to “home school” which might be a solution but often – now that they are on their own – their time is stretched to the limit.

So – there is the problem. Do YOU have any ideas that might help these children out?

THEY SAY THAT BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO II

Continuing on the topic of annulments.

So who needs a decree of nullity? Anyone who was married to another party in any church, by any recognized civil official, or by common law and now wishes to marry in the Catholic Church. Anyone. ANYONE. If a pagan was formally married to another pagan by a justice of the peace on a boat off the coast of the middle of nowhere, was divorced and now wishes to marry a Catholic, that person will need an annulment. If it was a Catholic whose first marriage was not even recognized in the Church and that person now wishes to be married in the Church to another party, that person needs an annulment.

When should a decree of nullity be applied for? After a divorce has been received and as soon after as you are ready. My personal recommendation is that you do it sooner rather than later. Who knows what God has in store for you and there is a minimum six-month preparation period in the Diocese of Cleveland. Other diocese will have similar stipulapulations and a date for marriage cannot be put on the books until it is determined that you are actually free to marry. Clevelanders are fortunate in that they have a good tribunal and even the most difficult cases can be handled in about six to eight months. But it is not until after this period that the six-month wedding preparation period may begin!

What can be expected of you in the process? You will need to meet with a person at the parish (most likely a priest) who will be the procurator for your case. His first job will be to determine what kind of annulment you require. Some are very simple and quick; others known as formal cases are more involved. It will be your job to collect the requisite paperwork (such as marriage certificates and divorce decrees), and information, which in some cases is little, in others a little more involved.

Your case is then sent to the Church tribunal. Note that only paperwork goes to the Church court, no persons are called in. In a formal case you will be asked for witnesses and they may be contacted by letter to give witness by answering questions and mailing it in.

It is all right if the former spouse refuses to cooperate. It is helpful but not absolutely necessary. There is no need to worry that they might try to sabotage the process. The judges in the court have seen it all a thousand times and are experts and sorting through the rubble. Remember: their goal is to help you move forward with you life.

Perhaps the most persistent “urban legend” about the process concerns the exorbitant fees involved. The point in fact is that you have a right to apply for a decree of nullity regardless of your ability to pay the requested donation. The reason for the donation is that this office is obviously not a parish and therefore does not have any income. Lights still have to be turned on, people still need to be paid, office supplies still need to be purchased and so on. Some fees are rather minimal. The most expensive is for the formal case which requires the most time and effort. In the diocese of Cleveland as of June 2007 it is $450. If the amount cannot be met, payments can be made in installments, a lesser fee might be negotiated, or in cases of great need, the fee is waved altogether. The ability to pay has absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the case or the speed in which it is processed. If the person with whom you are working is telling you anything too far off of this mark, get away from him and go to another parish to apply.

Why is the Church sticking its nose into this business? It arose from necessity. Originally you did not need a priest even to marry. You needed vows and two witnesses. But that allowed for a lot of abuse. One could find ways to say that he was never married, or pay witnesses to say that he was married, or skip town and marry another. So the Church started having official witnesses (and indeed I only witness marriage, the couple are their own ministers.) We also started keeping records for the same reason.

Likewise there can be many abuses in the dissolving of a marriage. Is a couple splitting up for legitimate reasons or is someone just being dumped? Is the sacrament being respected? Is the other person (and children) being properly taken care of? Should one or the other of the persons of the marriage have serous counseling before being allowed to be married in the Catholic Church again? In the end, it is about protecting the people involved and the integrity of marriage as a sacrament. It may seem like over kill in the United States, but the Catholic Church is more than the United States.

Perhaps the nullity process is not as great as it could be. There might be far better ways of handling it. But this is what we have. And it works. Of the many nullit cases that have been completed through my office there has been only one report of a person who said it was a horrible experience and they were sorry for having gone through it. But for the most part, even those who entered into it with trepidation have said that it helped them sort out what happened and to bring some clarity not only about the past but the future and are glad for the feeling of reconciliation and being able to start over again.

This is the end of the posts on annulments for now. If you have further questions contact your local parish or if you would rather, you can leave a comment over the next week or for more private questions you may Email me.

God bless you on your journey.

THEY SAY THAT BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

Adieu, Adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.

Unless it’s not.

Sometimes it is just a total pain.

Divorce today for practicing Catholics seems a lot like what pre-marital sex used to be. (Stick with me.) First, there is this vague notion that you are doing something really wrong. It is not talked about in any official manner. You get your information on the street and much of it can be completely false. After the deed is done you might feel guilty and wonder about the state of your soul which is accompanied by a certain uneasiness about approaching clergy concerning what happened for fear of what he might think or say.

At my last assignment I gave a one-night seminar on divorce, annulments, and remarriage in an effort to help people overcome the above anxieties. It was well attended although there was not one person there who needed an annulment. They all knew someone who did however. The following couple of months we were inundated with requests for decrees of nullity. In that vein, here are some basics about nullity cases to help set the record straight.

To begin, marriage by the state is largely a contractual union. That is two individuals are held together in a contract. As long as they both abide by the contract (or are willing to overlook discrepancies) the contract is valid and binding. If something goes wrong (and this is a gross oversimplification but helps with the point) then they can break the contract and, if they choose, engage in another contract with a third party.

This varies greatly from Christian marriage. Christian marriage is not contractual it is covenantal. Call to mind the Scripture passage, “. . .and the two shall become one. So they are no longer two, but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10; 8,9). This union is “a solemn agreement . . . involving mutual commitments and guarantees” (CCC glossary,) a public vow of laying down one’s life for another. This binding is not “unless and until part of a stipulation of a contract is violated” but until “death do us part,” (or for the more squeamish, “all the days of our lives.”) And in the end, what commodity do have that is more valuable than our good word?

This unity cannot be broken by anyone, not even the Church (let no man put asunder.) The Church does not recognize the state’s right to declare two people no longer married. You can say differently all you want, but the fact will remain that they are still one. It is not in the state’s competence to decree on the status of sacraments, as it is not in the Church’s competence to decree on what day trash pick will be. The only the thing that the Church recognizes about divorce is the legal separation of property. As far as the Church is concerned, you are still married and are even eligible for participating in the sacraments so long as you do not become involved with another person outside of the marriage for which a divorce was obtained.

That being said, you are probably more than aware of practicing Catholics who have divorced and have been remarried sacramentally within the Church. These are persons who have received a decree of nullity in their vows to their former spouse. A decree of nullity is quite a bit different from a divorce. A divorce brings a contractual marriage to an end (though there may be lingering obligations extending into the future) whereas a decree of nullity states that there was something essential to the basic Christian definition of marriage that was missing in the union from its inception rendering it a non-sacramental union.

What this doesn’t mean: This does not mean that children born of the union will be considered illegitimate. Canon law stipulates that individuals are never to be labeled as such. All persons are “legitimate” by virtue of their being. It does not mean that there were not loving or happy moments between the former spouses. It does not mean that they are failures or bad Catholics just for seeking a decree of nullity.

What it does mean: There was a tragic flaw in the relationship and we are simply recognizing the fact that there was something essential to marriage that was missing. It would be like having mass, for example, and everything seemed to be right on the mark, but instead of wine, there was grape juice and Necco wafers instead of hosts. Later investigation would say though the congregants were fed by the Word, the music was great, the preaching commendable, since the Eucharistic elements were missing, there was no sacrament. In like manner, the decree of nullity is simply recognizing what is there and what was not.

Having to go through the nullity process is not a punishment. In the end, it is about not only protecting the integrity of marriage and the sacraments, but the integrity of your word, and possibly protecting people in the future, which we will see later.

To be continued . . .