Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD, Chief Editor of the Muslim Times
Many in the contemporary world think of marriage and divorce as a personal matter between the husband and the wife, but not the Catholic Church.
Most believe that if the husband and the wife can agree on the details of marriage or divorce, others need not bother. But, the Catholic Church has a unique way to interfere, by a concept called annulment, which is deeply rooted in the history of the Catholic Church.
Some of us do not understand annulment in the Catholic Church and think as if it is similar to divorce. So what is annulment if it is not simply divorce?
Civil annulments treats the marriage as though it never existed. Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place.
In the Catholic Church, a declaration of nullity, commonly called an annulment, is a judgement on the part of an ecclesiastical tribunal determining that a marriage was invalidly contracted, or less commonly, a judgement determining that sacred ordination was invalidly conferred.
A matrimonial nullity trial, governed by the Church’s canon law, is a judicial process whereby a canonical tribunal determines whether the marriage was void at its inception (ab initio). A “Declaration of Nullity” is not the dissolution of an existing marriage, but rather a determination that consent was never validly exchanged due to a failure to meet the requirements to enter validly into matrimony and thus a marriage never existed.
For this reason (or for other reasons that render the marriage null and void) the Church, after an examination of the situation by the competent ecclesiastical tribunal, can declare the nullity of a marriage, i.e., that the marriage never existed. In this case the contracting parties are free to marry, provided the natural obligations of a previous union are discharged.
The annulment process is laborious and time-consuming, involving two levels of church courts and typically taking 12 to 18 months to complete. The fees, which according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops can range from $200 to $1,000, are used to pay administrative costs.
But, why should a Catholic worry about annulment and go through the lengthy ecclesiastical tribunal proceedings, after settling the divorce in a civil court?
Without the annulments, Catholics who remarry are not allowed to receive Holy Communion or Eucharist, which many describe as a painful exclusion from the church’s chief sacrament. In other words if they only get civil divorce they are marginalized in their Church and in a manner of speaking become second class Christians. As if a broken marriage was not a bad enough tragedy they have to go through the trauma of being discriminated against, in their own Church.
Mark Garren does not take communion when he goes to church. Sometimes he walks up to the priest, crosses his arms over his chest and touches his shoulders to signal that he is seeking a blessing. More often, mindful of his divorce years ago, Mr. Garren, a 64-year-old Illinoisan, remains in his pew, watching with slight embarrassment as the rest of the row moves to the front of the church.
Pamela Crawford, 46, of Virginia, is having none of that. Twice divorced, she, too, feels judged by her church, but when she does go to Mass, she walks up with the rest of the congregation. “If God has a problem with me taking communion, we’ll sort it out,” she said.
Facing millions of divorced Catholics around the world, many of whom express frustration over their status in the church, the Vatican has begun a remarkable re-examination of the church’s treatment of worshipers whose marriages have broken apart.[1]
Pope Francis on Tuesday this week radically revised the process by which Catholics may annul their marriages, streamlining steps that many in the church considered too cumbersome and costly.
The move is the latest in a series of reforms by Francis as he seeks to make the church more responsive to the real needs of lay Catholics, especially those who have long felt marginalized by the hierarchy. Without the annulments, Catholics who remarry are not allowed to receive Holy Communion, which many describe as a painful exclusion from the church’s chief sacrament.
The Vatican announcement also comes just weeks before Francis makes his first-ever visit to the United States. Americans accounted for about half of the nearly 50,000 annulments granted in 2012, the latest year for which statistics are available.
In 2015, the process for declaring matrimonial nullity was amended by the matrimonial nullity trial reforms of Pope Francis, the broadest reforms to matrimonial nullity law in 300 years. Prior to the reforms, a declaration of nullity could only be effective if it had been so declared by two tribunals at different levels of jurisdiction. If the lower courts (First and Second Instance) were not in agreement, the case went automatically to the Roman Rota for final decision one way or another.
As if they possessed some magical wand to determine if the marriage was religiously valid or not. After all it was consummated and existed for numerous years, what is this joke that it did not exist in the first place? Why do the believers have to live with a strange thought that they lived in sin for so many years? What is the guilt of the children born to such a marriage, now be suddenly thought of as “bastards,” born out of wedlock! Why this putting the cart before the horse? Why an Alice in the wonderland scenario?
The short answer is that the Catholic Church in early centuries defined marriage as one of the seven sacred sacraments and has been managing the lives of the believers for centuries, through these sacraments and has no immediate interest in getting out of their personal lives.
Confession is also one of the seven sacraments and its dreadful consequences over the last few centuries have been discussed in a recent book. For a quick book review to demystify the so called sacrament of confession, please go to: Book Review: The Dark Box: A Secret History of Confession.
Just like the Church is not forcing the sacrament of confession, these days, they could let go of the sacrament of marriage and let the believers be married and divorced according to the best secular concepts. It is time to leave your own followers alone and not monkey with the most intimate parts of their lives.
The husband and the wife know the best about their marriage and how it was over the years, blissful or not, and not the celibate priests sitting in ecclesiastical tribunals, sometimes hundred of miles away.
Additional Reading
Divorce: Islam Versus Christianity
A Message of Compassion and Love from the Holy Bible
Reference
Categories: Catholic Church, Catholicism, Catholics, Europe and Australia, Marriage, Pope, The Muslim Times, Utilitarian value, Vatican
The Catholic Church, like Islam and Judaism, treats marriage with enormous care and concern and does not regard marriage and divorce as a private matter between two people. his is not because the Church
‘interferes’ (you use this curious word) but because she has been given a mandate by Christ to teach,
sanctify and rule those who subject themselves to her as the Body of Christ, and to be the guardian of the sacraments, one of which is marriage. herefore, an annulment is not the Church interfering, but doing what she was founded to do. It is not the same thing as divorce, because the Church does not understand marriage in the same way as civil society does. Based on the teachings of the Gospel, marriage is indissoluble: a man cannot simply divorce his wife because he has met someone younger. A woman cannot divorce her husband because she has met someone nicer. If, as you suggest, the contemporary world takes over marriage as an entirely personal matter, this could well happen. But what God thinks is more important. here are, of course, occasions when a marriage should end: and this is where an annulment often comes into play. You did not make crystal clear how the Church understands marriage. It is not a contract, but a covenant, and at its heart is something called ‘consent’, usually expressed in the vows the couple exchanges. these vows are what make the marriage: so what would happen if something was seriously wrong when the vows were exchanged? What would happen
if one of the parties was hungover? Or on drugs? Or had a serious but hidden mental aberration? Or
something external, like one of the two being threatened if they don’t go ahead? Could that person
exchange consent as a free and consenting adult of sound mind? Probably not. An annulment is the
process that declares that at the moment of consent, something was wrong, which makes the consent
invalid. It is not an attempt to divorce a couple: but it takes marriage extremely seriously. I am not sure that you clarified carefully enough the meaning of consent or annulment. It has nothing to do with, as you suggest, anyone thinking they had a magic wand. Consummation, and a couple living together for years, does not automatically make a marriage valid. hose are not the places where validity is found. I am not sure why you would call Church policy a ‘joke’, but one would imagine that by now you would know the failure of integrity in making light of someone else’s religion. It was Christ who raised marriage to the level of a sacrament, and Christ who instituted the Church. he Church is part of people’s personal lives in no loess a manner than Judaism and Islam are part of the personal lives of their adherents. Not sure how you missed that bit. Also not sure of your epistemology: your suggestion is that a celibate priest cannot know about marriage because he is unmarried. hat’s like suggesting someone cannot speak about the dangers of drugs unless they’ve tried them and know from experience.
Not a good theory of knowledge. If the husband and wife know best about their marriage, as you
suggest, we would have no need for marriage counselors. In fact, we do, suggesting that you are overly optimistic. You want the Church to ‘let go’ of things like Confession (of whose ‘dreadful consequences’ you speak – when was the last time you went? I go often, so know better) and marriage and let people follow the best secular concepts? Really? Why not just cancel religion! Call your publication ‘The Secular Times’.
I spent years in Cairo and other places doing a PhD in Arabic and Islamic studies so that whenever I
wrote about Islam, it would be accurate and respectful. Not sure if you have followed a similar path.
You have made a lot of points. For example you say: “Consummation, and a couple living together for years, does not automatically make a marriage valid.”
It may be a bad marriage or even a fraudulent marriage, but a marriage which has been consummated and lasted for decades with children cannot be labeled as ‘no-marriage.’
It is like a person, whom we do not like because of his or her bad deeds as if he or she has not been born yet.
Marriage has certain elements which have to be satisfied before it can be called valid such as consent and public announcement. Although many people who are closely affiliated with their religions use their pastors, rabbis or imams to perform their marriages, it is not essential for a valid marriage. I do not think that any marriage performed in a court of law in front of two witnesses and with the free consent of the parties involved will be considered invalid by any religion.
All religions considered marriage a sacred bond between a man and a woman. It allow then certain rights and privileges in the society as well as places some obligations and duties upon them. No religion takes divorce lightly. They all teach that every possible means should be used to prevent a divorce. Still there are times when both parties find it impossible to live together and have to separate. Divorce is not always because one partner has found someone more attractive. Usually there are other reasons such as domestic abuse or financial issues. Breaking of marriage is as old as marriage itself. It is an unpleasant but unavoidable reality of human life and relationship.
Islam and Judaism have permitted divorce as a last resort. Even in Christianity many factions allow divorce. Catholicism is still struggling with this issue, but there is gradual progress. Slowly they are more accepting of this reality and are trying to deal with it while keeping their religious teachings intact.
I applaud the recent steps by the current Pope to make it easier for the married couples to separate in cases of irreconcilable differences. Important thing is that they are taking steps in the right direction.