In a December 7 rescript, Francis allowed the Roman Rota to grant an annulment even if the grounds for doing so weren't the ones originally specified in the case under review.

Before 1994, the Rota was able to grant the annulment directly on such new grounds.

St John Paul II, however, required the Rota to assess only the grounds specified in the case.

This meant the person seeking the annulment potentially had to start the process again.

Observers said John Paul's decision reflected a desire in the 1980s and 1990s to tighten up the annulment process.

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During a press conference on board his flight back to Rome from the US, Francis said St John Paul II had decided "that cannot be done".

"Pope St John Paul II - after long, long discussions, long reflections - said it clearly," Francis said.

"Not because women do not have the capacity," the Pope said.

Francis pointed to the feminine nature of the Church and to the role of Mary as being more important that those of popes, bishops and priests.

According to a National Catholic Reporter article, Francis's answer on the papal plane is the latest in a series of controversial and sometimes unclear remarks he has made about the role of women in the Church.

The Pope has previously said that the door to ordination for women was "closed" and has spoken of needing to develop a special theology of women.

He has also said he has stayed away from appointing women to high-level positions in the Vatican bureaucracy for fear of promoting some sort of "functionalism" of women's roles.

On the plane, Pope Francis was also asked about his decision to streamline the process for declaring the nullity of marriages.

He insisted the change was strictly juridical and not doctrinal.

It is not "Catholic divorce", he said.

The annulment process needed reform because with appeals "there were processes that lasted 10-15 years".

Francis's return to Rome came only a few days out from the start of the synod on the family.

The question of finding some sort of process or "penitential path" to readmit to the sacraments Catholics who have remarried without an annulment is something still on the synod's agenda, he said on the plane.

"It seems a bit simplistic to me to say they can receive Communion", but it is an issue that needs further discussion, he said.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Herald
• Full text of Pope Francis's session with media on papal plane
• Image: Catholic News Agency

In a seven-page dossier, obtained by German newspaper Die Zeit, the officials express concerns over an absence of consultation on the matter.

They complained that no curial departments, including the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or bishops'conferences, were consulted before the changes.

The process of obtaining a declaration of nullity was made simpler, quicker and cheaper as a result of two motu proprios issued by Pope Francis last week.

Motu proprio means "by his own initiative".

The dossier stated that usual legislative channels have been "undermined" as "none of the planned steps of a legislative procedure have been followed".

Critics say this goes against the Pope's calls for synodality and collegiality.

According to a report in the National Catholic Register, the papal commission that drafted the motu proprio had been ordered to keep silent throughout the drafting process.

But the report also alleges that this commission did not see the final draft.

It states that an Italian cardinal along with two others "fiercely" tried to prevent the motu proprio being published before the synod on the family, but without success.

The report also voices concern that the changes will lead to a flood of annulments and that from now on, couples would be able to simply exit their Catholic marriage without a problem.

They also charge that the language used in the papal documents was too vague.

"A number of monsignors who are officially in charge of directing the affairs of the Church at large, are beside themselves" and feel obligated to "speak up", according to Die Zeit.

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• The Tablet
• Image: Catholic Herald

He was speaking after Pope Francis announced that the marriage annulment process is to be simplified.

"The changes simplify the process and will hopefully speed it up; They are very welcome," said Dew.

"We will need to think through how the changes will work in relation to our National Tribunal and the Regional Tribunal which we share with Australian Dioceses."

"Pope Francis said in making the announcement that the process has been simplified and made easier but the grounds for nullifying a marriage have not changed."

In May of this year the NZ bishops announced that the marriage tribunal would no longer charge fees for the process.

The Vatican commentator Robert Mickens says many in the secular media have once again misunderstood what Pope Francis has done.

"Just as some thought he single handedly decided recently that the Church could now forgive the sin of abortion, as if it had never done so before," he says.

"They think he is now allowing any Catholic who is currently divorced and civilly remarried to make everything all right by getting a guaranteed quickie annulment."

"But it's not quite that easy. Or at least it is not supposed to be."

Source

• Supplied New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference
• globalpulsemagazine.com
• Image: www.tvnz.co.nz

Some, like Cardinal Walter Kasper, pointed to the approach taken by the Orthodox churches, where divorced people can marry in a civil ceremony and be admitted to Communion after they have gone through a penitential process.

Others felt that the Western practice of annulments could solve the problem if it was simplified and made easier.

To get a better understanding of annulments and how the process might be simplified, I interviewed Fr. John Beal, professor of canon law at The Catholic University of America. He has written extensively about the annulment process and easier marriage annulments may not be the answer. Continue reading

- Fr Thomas Reece is a senior analyst for NCR and author of Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church.

"The Tribunal process is an important pastoral ministry within the Church at a very difficult time in people's lives," said Cardinal John Dew, Moderator of the Tribunal.

"The Bishops wanted to ensure that cost was no longer a barrier to people seeking an annulment."

The decision was made at the April meeting of the Bishops' Conference.

But time was needed to inform current clients and to seek expert advice on tax matters.

Tribunal staff have now informed those who are currently undertaking an annulment process that fees will not be required.

The tax issue relates to whether any donation made by the client is in fact a disguised fee for service without a GST component.

For this reason donations will not be solicited or accepted from clients of the Tribunal.

However Cardinal John made it clear that the decision to drop fees has been made for purely pastoral reasons.

It is not it an attempt to evade tax responsibilities.

The Bishops have not yet decided where money will be found to fund the work of the Tribunal.

"We acknowledge that the fees people have paid in the past have helped in the development of the Tribunal process that we have today," Cardinal John said.

"The six Dioceses have always funded the bulk of the costs associated with the Tribunals operation."

"The Dioceses have pressures of their own, so we will need to find a way to fund what had previously been covered by the fees."

The bishops will decide later this year whether they will ask the wider Catholic community for help in supporting the work of the Tribunal.

The annulment process is undertaken following a civil divorce.

Those who would like to know more about engaging in this process should contact their local Diocesan office of the tribunal

Details are also available on the New Zealand Catholic Bishops' website

Source

• catholic.org.nz
• Image: myfamilylife.org

Bishop David Zubik said Pope Francis had inspired the move by calling for marriage tribunals to do justice swiftly.

The Pope expressed a desire for no-cost annulments last year.

Pittsburgh church officials had been collecting about US$120,000 annually in annulment fees — but that was only about one-third of the full cost.

The diocese will cover annulment costs through a combination of grants from a recent capital campaign and operating funds through its Parish Share programme.

Most dioceses in Pennsylvania offer financial aid for low-income petitioners for annulments.

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Archbishop Joseph Kurtz is one of four US prelates who will attend the synod in October.

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, he was asked what message he would carry to Rome.

Archbishop Kurtz replied: "The dimension that I would bring is the unity and integrity of how we worship, how we believe and how we provide pastoral care."

"It will be very important that there is not a gap between the way we worship, believe and provide pastoral care," he said.

Asked about pastoral care, Archbishop Kurtz mentioned a principle he was taught in the seminary: "Sacraments are for people."

"So we do have a responsibility as bishops to first ensure the integrity of the sacrament, but also to ensure that we are looking at ways to reach out to others."

Archbishop Kurtz cited the Holy Father's "effort to form a committee to explore how the process of granting annulments might be streamlined and how unnecessary roadblocks might be removed, without doing violence to Church teaching".

Archbishop Kurtz also said the synod will have to look at how the Church accompanies people in what he called "irregular situations".

"In those cases, it will be the task of the synod to look at many opportunities to provide pastoral care," he said.

"The delegates to the synod will have to evaluate each one of the proposals based on theological guidance [regarding its] effect on the theology of the Eucharist and on our need to be in grace as we approach the sacrament."

The archbishop acknowledged that the Church does allow for adaptations to local culture by local churches.

But these mainly come in the area of liturgy and require special permission, he said.

"These adaptations, however, are not in the area of doctrine," he added.

Sources

• National Catholic Register
• Image: Catholic News Agency

In an address to the Roman Rota in January, the Pope said: "The sacraments are free. The sacraments give us grace.

"And a matrimonial process pertains to the sacrament of matrimony. How I wish that all processes were free."

The Pope also told the Rota that because contemporary culture portrays marriage as a "mere form of emotional gratification", people often marry without a true understanding of the sacrament.

Therefore, many such marriages might be invalid.

"The judge, in pondering the validity of the consent expressed, must take into account the context of values and of faith - or their presence or absence - in which the intent to marry was formed," Pope Francis said.

"In fact, ignorance of the contents of the faith could lead to what the code [of canon law] calls an error conditioning the will.

"This eventuality is not to be considered rare as in the past, precisely because worldly thinking often prevails over the magisterium of the Church," the Pope said.

This sort of error "threatens the stability of marriage, its exclusivity and its fecundity, as well as marriage's orientation to the good of the other, of conjugal love as a ‘vital principle' of the consensus, of mutual giving to establish a lifelong union," Pope Francis stressed.

The Pope also called for "pastoral conversion" of ecclesiastical structures.

This is so that justice can be offered to "all those who turn to the Church to shed light on their matrimonial situation".

He observed that the great challenge faced by the Church's canonical judges is "not to keep the salvation of persons enclosed within the straits of legalism".

"The function of law is guided toward the salus animarum [salvation of souls] on the condition that, avoiding sophisms distant from the living flesh of people in difficulty, it may help to establish the truth of the moment of consent: whether it was faithful to Christ or to the deceitful worldly mentality."

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Register
• Image: Mental Healthy

An 11-member commission, announced on Saturday, will seek to "simplify the (annulment) procedure, making it more streamlined, while safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of marriage", the Vatican said.

The commission is made up of canon lawyers and theologians and will be chaired by Msgr Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota.

The Vatican statement added that "the work of the Commission will start as soon as possible".

Its goal will be "to prepare a proposal of reform of the matrimonial process, with the objective of simplifying its procedure, making it more streamlined, and safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of matrimony".

An annulment, formally known as a "decree of nullity", is a ruling that a marriage was not valid in the first place according to Church law.

This is because certain pre-requisites, such as free will, psychological maturity and openness to having children, were lacking.

In the past decades many Catholics have complained that the procedure is too complicated, costly and archaic.

Most annulments take place at the local diocesan level.

Each decision must be reviewed by a second tribunal, a step reformers say is superfluous and should be eliminated.

Flying back from World Youth Day in Brazil last year, Pope Francis told reporters that the annulment process needs to be reformed and streamlined.

On Friday, the Pope warned against "codifying the faith in rules and instructions".

But some commentators said this appeared to allude to a theological skirmish between senior cardinals on the question of Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried.

"Faced with so many pastoral requirements, faced with the requests of men and women, we run the risk of becoming afraid and of turning in on ourselves in a fearful and defensive manner . . . ," the Pope said.

"This fear leads to the temptation to be self-satisfied and to clericalism, to codify the faith in rules and instructions just as was done by the Pharisees, the scribes and the doctors of law in Jesus' time . . . ."

"It is not the Pope's job to offer a full and detailed assessment of contemporary reality, but he invites all the Church to grasp the signs of the times . . . ," the Pope added.

Sources

• The Telegraph
• Reuters
• Irish Times
• Vatican Radio
• Catholic News Service
• Image: Mental Healthy