A Guideline to determining the type of Invalidity case needed

DIOCESAN TRIBUNAL

555 Colman Center Drive
P.O. Box 7044
Rockford, IL 61125
(815) 399-4300
FAX: (815) 399-4861
(Address all official business to this office)
Office Hours: Monday through Friday
8:30 A.M. - 12 P.M., 1 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.
Closed Saturdays, Sundays, Legal Holidays and Good Friday.

Process to Determine Marital Status in the Catholic Church

The following reflections are based on Pope John Paul II’s constant teaching about the dignity of the human person throughout his years as leader of the Catholic Church. In particular, these reflections are based on Pope John Paul II’s letter on “Marriage and the Family” and the reflections on this letter by the Reverend Lawrence G. Wrenn in “When Is An Invalid Marriage Null”, The Invalid Marriage, pp. 173-183. There is nothing in these reflections that in any way contradicts or is opposed to Catholic Church teaching on marriage. However, the use of the word “invalidity” instead of the word “annulment” is not yet a general Tribunal practice. This Tribunal feels that the word “annulment”, a civil law term which has so many negative connotations, diminishes the dignity of the persons who choose to marry one another by implying that everything good that happened in their marriage to one another is officially “wiped out like it never happened”. It is hoped that a careful reading of these reflections with an “open mind” will lead to that reconciliation with God, Church, and one another that is the motivating factor of this marital process.

Catholic Church law defines marriage in this way: “The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring” (Canon 1055 §1). In light of this and the other Church canons on marriage, the essential rights and obligations of marriage are to be related to the four goods, namely the good of the spouses, the good of children, the good of fidelity, and the good of permanence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes Pope John Paul II to sum up the goods and requirements of marriage:

Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter — appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values (On the Family, #13)

The Catholic Church believes and teaches that these four goods are essential to all marriages, whether the parties are baptized or not, whether they practice a particular religious belief or not. This belief is in keeping with the insights of Vatican Council II on the dignity of the human person and the protection of that dignity in personal and societal relationships, whether civil or religious. Pope John Paul II promoted this dignity not only in his teaching but in the way he lived.

That is why the word “annulment” is an unfortunate word, as Bishop Doran has often remarked. It is “unfortunate” because it seems to rob marital partners of their dignity. It is not a word that is found anywhere in the Code of Canon Law, which is the source for the Church procedure regarding the status of a marriage. Somewhere along the line the Civil term annul was attached to what the Church does when it determines the status of a marriage. The civil term means “to make void”, “to wipe out” from the beginning, whereas “divorce operates to terminate the marriage from that point forward and does not affect the former validity of the marriage” (Gifis, Law Dictionary , p. 23).

No wonder the word “annulment” makes many people uncomfortable. After all, for most people their marriage was one of the most important events of their lives. Although the marriage may have been humiliating, devastating, destructive, depressing, painful and the most frustrating experience of their lives, it still was an important event, even though the parties divorced.

Recognizing this importance and the dignity of the parties involved, the Church does not say that someone’s marriage never existed. There was some semblance of a marriage, some type of relationship. Thus, when someone comes to the Church Court to ask for a ruling on the status of their marriage they are not asking whether or not they had a marriage, because the Catholic Church presumes that a marriage existed. What is at issue is whether the marriage that did exist is what the Catholic Church considers a valid marriage.

If we think of the word “invalid” in the English language, it means “disabled by illness or injury”. When a marital relationship is “not well” from the beginning and becomes destructive, the parties become “disabled” and severe problems arise. Similar to when a physical disease is present but undiagnosed until years later; so, by analogy, a marriage may appear healthy from the outside or even to the couple who is married but still have an underlying impairment present at the time of consent. The Church Court studies the marriage to look at the root causes of why this marriage failed to become a permanent bond until death, and then — but only if those root causes were present before and at the time of the wedding — declares the marriage invalid from the start.

This is never done until there is a civil divorce, because the Church always hopes for reconciliation between the parties. However, after the civil divorce, the process is done regardless of whether the customary fee has been paid or not.

The First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians already indicates that early in the history of the Church, procedures for dealing with invalid marriages were in place. There are two reasons why people are more conscious of this procedure today: 1) mass media, which bring almost instant communication to all areas of our country and 2) the “divorce mentality” which exists in our society, whereby people enter marriage thinking in the back of their mind that “if it doesn’t work, I’ll get out”; or they condition their commitment to permanence by saying “If he ever hits me I am out the door” or “If she is unfaithful, I will leave her”.

When a marriage fails, either party can petition to have the Church examine their marriage, even if they are seen as the “guilty” party responsible for the breakup of the marriage. For, like her Savior, the Church cannot abandon sinners and those who fail to live rightly. We learn this from the way Jesus, as the Bible teaches us, went to those who were outcasts and sinners. The Church never gives up hope when we fail to live rightly.

Who is likely to need this Church process? The first thing to note is that no one is any longer excommunicated because of divorce. You can receive the sacraments so long as you are not courting, living with someone else, or have been remarried in any kind of legally recognized ceremony. Thus, it is usually only when a person wants to remarry in the Catholic Church that their freedom to marry has to be determined and this process is used. This process applies first of all to Catholics, then to anyone who is married to a Catholic or wants to marry a Catholic (Canon 1059). In general, the Church presumes that all marriages are valid (Canon 1060). This means first marriages between baptized or non-baptized Protestants, marriages between Jews, or even marriages between atheists. This is true no matter where these marriage took place or how they took place, for example, skydiving out of a plane over Las Vegas .

The purpose of this process is not to place blame, but to come to the truth of why the persons involved acted and behaved the way they did. Unfortunately, some people fight this process because they are still in the blaming stage and not ready to face the truth of what happened.

The process begins with a petition from a person asking the Church Court to examine the status of their marriage. The person writes a narrative that speaks of the background of both parties, their courtship, and the events of their marriage. When this has been sent to the Church Court a date is set and the person comes for an oral deposition, reaffirming and clarifying their narrative. Tentative grounds are then set and the other party is invited to respond in the same manner by written narrative, oral deposition, or both. Witnesses of both parties are then contacted to respond through an oral deposition or in writing.

Witness testimony is vital to this process. The requirement for this is based on the prescription of the Old Testament Scripture [“A judicial fact shall be established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses” (Deuteronomy 19:15)]; as well as on the New Testament Scripture [“Take with you one or two others in order that every word may be confirmed by the mouth of two or three witnesses” (Matthew 18:16)].

Church law has only one requirement for witnesses, namely, “they must tell the truth” (Canon 1548 § 1). This means don’t make things worse than they were or better than they were but tell what happened as best as you remember it. Don’t filter your testimony, leaving out things you think might reflect badly on the person you are testifying for. In the words of the oath: “Tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God”.

Once the Witness testimony is gathered, if necessary an evaluation is made by a Court Expert skilled in the psychiatric sciences. Everything is then given to the Defender of the Bond, whose purpose is to set forth every reasonable argument from the gathered evidence that indicates this was a valid marriage. It is the task of the Judge to weigh and evaluate all of this gathered information and render a decision as to whether the marriage in question was valid or invalid.

This decision is automatically sent to the Provincial Court of Appeal in Chicago if the Rockford Court decides that the marriage was invalid.. If this Appeal Court confirms that the marriage was invalid, a Declaration of Invalidity is issued to each party indicating that each is now free to enter another marriage in the Catholic Church. If the decision is not confirmed, the decisions of both Courts are sent to Rome , where the Roman Rota decides whether the marriage was valid or invalid. No one is free to marry in the Catholic Church unless their marriage has been declared invalid by a Roman Catholic Church Court and the lawful Appeal Court for that first Church Court .

Marriage
Parties Contracting Marriage Place of Marriage Process Needed

This chart should be a big help in determining what process needs to be followed when a person has been previously married and is asking about an annulment. EACH MARRIAGE NEEDS A SEPARATE APPLICATION. The chart is read as follows:

A formal process is a request for a decree of invalidity that involves a very extensive investigation. Basically, the investigation is to find out if either – or both – of the two parties in the marriage entered into the marriage freely, understanding who it was they were marrying and what marriage was all about. Even though both former spouses are invited to participate, it is not designed to pit one against the other. This is not a civil divorce or a civil trial or a civil matter.

A common misconception is that if a marriage is declared invalid, the Catholic Church is saying the marriage never took place. This is a grave misconception. The parties to the marriage know very well that the marriage took place. The church is saying that the marriage was not of a sacramental nature. The valid sacrament is what did not take place. There is a very real difference in those two. If necessary, please go back and read this paragraph once again.

The rule in the Catholic Church – stated below – is that Catholics marry in the presence of the Church’s minister. If a Catholic chooses to marry without the minister as a witness, the marriage is not valid. The marriage may be declared invalid by The Tribunal through a lack of form, also referred to as a defect of form. Basically, it is declared so, as the Catholic party (or parties) broke the law of the Church.

Can. 1108 §1 Only those marriages are valid which are contracted in the presence of the local Ordinary or parish priest or of the priest or deacon delegated by either of them, who, in the presence of two witnesses, assists, in accordance however with the rules set out in the follow canons, and without prejudice to the exceptions mentioned in canon 144, 1112 §1, 1116, and 1127 §2, §3.

How this Process Works
How is a marriage declared invalid for a “lack of canonical form”?

Marriages of Catholics or the Orthodox which are invalid because of lack of proper form can be declared invalid through an administrative process. This normally takes place when one of the parties wants to enter into a subsequent marriage. The request for an administrative declaration of invalidity is normally sent in by the parish priest with the rest of the marriage papers. The parish priest should fill out a form called “Petition for Declaration of Nullity for Marriage Attempted Outside the Church,” and submit it to the Rockford Tribunal along with the baptismal certificate of the Catholic or Orthodox party, a copy of the marriage license and divorce decree from the previous marriages, and two witness affidavits which state that the marriage never took place according to the proper form.

A typical administrative declaration of invalidity in the Diocese of Rockford would take generally about one month to obtain, once the necessary papers have been sent to the Rockford Tribunal.

If a couple wants to marry in the Catholic Church but there has been a previous marriage for one or both parties, we believe you will find the information contained in this brochure helpful in exploring the possibility of declaring a former marriage invalid.

According to Church teaching, a marriage between two baptized persons is perpetually binding and cannot be dissolved. It is a sacred covenant, more than a mere contract, whereby the parties truly and totally commit themselves to each other as persons. However, the Church also teaches that a marriage can be called “real and genuine” only when it is founded on the kind of relationship that Christ intended when He raised marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament.

Over the course of the centuries, the Church has learned that certain intentions and capacities must be brought to this relationship by the parties involved, in order that their union might indeed be a foundation for the Sacrament of Matrimony. Without these intentions and capacities, there can be no sacramental marriage. In such a situation regardless of external appearances or subsequent events, the parties who were involved in a broken union of this sort have a true right to have it recognized publicly that they are free to enter a sacramental marriage in the church.

The purpose of this proceeding is to establish that there never was a previous sacramental marriage in the true sense of the word. An ecclesiastical annulment or declaration of invalidity is a formal statement of a Church Tribunal that a particular marriage never was a sacramental marriage in the true sense according to the teaching of the Catholic Church.

An “annulment” is more correctly termed a “declaration of invalidity.” Because the ecclesiastical declaration of invalidity has NO effect in civil law, it is required that a civil decree of complete divorce or civil annulment be granted. Our investigation will not begin until the civil action is completed.

Since the ecclesiastical judgment has no effect in civil law, children born to a non-sacramental union which is subsequently declared invalid are and remain legitimate in the eyes of the Church.

In order to hear your case the Tribunal must have competence. Competence is based on one or more of these criteria: the wedding in question occurred in this diocese; your former spouse resides in this diocese; you reside in this diocese; most of the witnesses reside within this diocese. If the Rockford Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to hear your case, we will put you in touch with the appropriate Tribunal.

In each case the following documents must be submitted with the Formal Petition: a copy of the civil marriage record and a signed and dated copy of the divorce decree. Civil documents are issued by the county court house at which the marriage or divorce was recorded.

As you prepare your testimony, you may find parts of the questionnaire inquire about very intimate details of the life of you and your former spouse. Other questions may cause you to recall some aspects of the relationship which were not pleasant. We hope you find a sense of relief in relating your complete story to a caring Tribunal Advocate.

At no time are we intent on pointing a finger of guilt toward either you or your former spouse. Rather, we attempt to gather sufficient factual information so that an enlightened and just decision can be rendered.

At the outset of the investigation, the Respondent (your former spouse) must be cited so that he/she might provide input. Even if you have had no contact with your former spouse for a long time, you must use every reasonable means to determine his/her current address. There is, however, no need for you to have direct contact with that party.

Church laws respect the rights of your former spouse regarding these proceedings. The Tribunal must advise him/her of these rights, while simultaneously trying to enlist a cooperative attitude. A Respondent’s refusal to participate will not jeopardize the continuation of the case.

Generally the Respondent has these rights: 1) to review the documentary evidence offered in support of the Petition; 2) to respond in writing to the Petition; 3) to provide testimony; 4) to name witnesses; 5) to be advised of the decision of the case and to appeal it.

Typically, the Petitioner agrees to assign the right to examine testimonies received in the course of the investigation to a Church official known as an Advocate. Similarly the Respondent has the right to request an Advocate. An Advocate assists a party throughout the process.

Every case requires witnesses. Witnesses are those relatives, especially parents, and friends who are willing to present information known to them about you, your former spouse, and the marriage. Since each witness is asked to respond to the Tribunal’s questions, any witness listed must be willing to testify, and must not be coached in any way.

Additional witnesses could include counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and physicians who have counseled or treated you, your former spouse, or both, for problems which caused or were indicative of marital maladjustment. If their input may be helpful to your cause, the Tribunal will assist you in arranging for the lawful submission of a report to the Tribunal, with proper consent as required by the counselor, doctor, or agency.

Church law dictates that any testimony not protected by confidentiality is open to inspection by the Petitioner and the Respondent just prior to the final decision on the marriage case. Counseling/Medical testimony is always confidential, to be seen only by the Tribunal. A legitimate request for confidentiality by a party or a witness on some issues will be honored. Also, the Judge on his own authority may declare any sensitive material confidential. These provisions thus adequately protect everyone’s desire for privacy.

The Diocese of Rockford assumes most of the costs; the Tribunal assesses a fee of $400. Paid in installments, this fee is the Petitioner’s contribution toward the expenses incurred. No Petitioner is ever denied a fair hearing because of an inability to pay this fee .

As you can see, the process of declaring a marriage invalid is lengthy and the investigation in-depth. Simply because you apply for a declaration of invalidity does not guarantee a favorable decision. Because of the scope of the examination of each marriage in question and the number of pending cases, a case can usually be concluded within 12 months from the date of the acceptance at the Tribunal. Permission to remarry in the Catholic Church cannot be granted before the completion of the entire process. To avoid problems, no plans for a future marriage should be made before that time. By Church Law, priests are not permitted to set dates for marriage in the church until a declaration of invalidity has been actually granted. The Tribunal is dedicated to dealing fairly with each case without undue delay.

Having studied these issues, you may want to complete the Formal Petition. Your priest can assist you in this. Each marriage needs a separate application You may also contact the Diocesan Tribunal for assistance at the phone number or website listed below.

If you are recently divorced and contemplating a new marriage, you might consider attending programs sponsored by the Diocesan Office of Pastoral Services for the separated/divorced. Their phone number is (815) 965-5011.

Thank you for your careful attention to this important information. We want to help you and are here to serve you in every possible way.

Diocese of Rockford
Marriage Tribunal
555 Colman Center Drive
P. O. Box 7044
Rockford , IL 61125
(815) 399-4300
www.rockforddiocese.org