THE ABBREVIATED ANNULMENT PROCESS: PART OF THE ESSENTIAL CANONICAL MISSION OF THE DIOCESAN BISHOP

It has been almost two years since the Holy Father issued two Motu Proprio providing for an expedited annulment process in particular cases.

I thought it would be beneficial to hear again what Pope Francis said to members of the Apostolic Tribunal and participants in a training course for clerics and the laity regarding the new marriage annulment process at the time the new legislation was promulgated. 

The Holy Father declared, "The Bishop is father, head and judge of the faithful."

Pope Francis further stated:  “ I have decided, as Bishop of Rome and Successor of Peter, to definitively clarify some of the fundamental aspects of the two Motu Proprios, in particular the role of the diocesan Bishop as the personal and sole judge in the Processus breviore  (abbreviated case).”

The Pope continued:  “The diocesan Bishop has always been Iudex unum et idem cum Vicario iudiciali  (one and the same judge with the Judicial Vicar, the chief judge of the diocese); but  this principle has been interpreted in a de facto manner which has excluded the diocesan Bishop from the personal exercise of his office by delegating almost everything to the Tribunal.”

Accordingly, the Holy Father stipulated that the following principles are to be observed in accord with the legislation governing the abbreviated process:

1) the diocesan Bishop is, by virtue of his pastoral office,  is to be the personal and sole judge in the abbreviated process;

2) Therefore the role of the diocesan Bishop-judge is the investigate, weigh the evidence and make a discreet judgment;

3) for validity, the abbreviated process requires two inseparable conditions: membership in the episcopate and status as head of a diocesan community of faithful. If either of the two conditions is lacking, the abbreviated process cannot take place. The instance must be adjudicated through the ordinary process.

4) The exclusive and personal competence of the diocesan Bishop, established in the fundamental criteria of the abbreviated process, makes direct reference to the ecclesiology of Vatican II, which reminds us that the Bishop alone already has, in consecration, the fullness of all the power to carry out his canonical mission;

5) the abbreviated process is not an option that the diocesan Bishop can choose but is an obligation that comes to him by way of his consecration and the mission received. He has exclusive competence in the three phases of the abbreviated process:

— the case is always addressed to the diocesan Bishop;

— the diocesan Bishop conducts the investigation;

— the decision is to be pronounced (having only God before him) always and only by the diocesan Bishop.

6) entrusting the entire abbreviated process to the inter-diocesan Tribunal would lead to the distortion of facts and diminish the figure of the Bishop father, head and judge of his faithful, to a mere signatory of the sentence;

7)  mercy, requires that the diocesan Bishop initiate the abbreviated process as quickly as possible; should he then feel unprepared to implement it immediately, he must remand the case to the ordinary process, which, however, must be conducted with due attentiveness.

8) closeness and gratuitousness are needed by the poor, whom the Church must love above all things;

9)  in receiving an appeal contesting an affirmative sentence in the abbreviated process, it is specified that the new law has conferred upon the Dean of the Rota a new and therefore fundamental power to judge regarding the rejection or admission of the appeal.

In the conclusion of his remarks, the Holy Father reiterated that the abbreviated process is to occur without seeking the permission or authorization of another Institution or of the Apostolic Signatura.

Clearly, Pope Francis’ vision of the diocesan Bishop as the Vicar of Christ in the particular church entrusted to his care is that of Vatican II (Christus Dominus).

This address will most likely be among the most historic of all the reforms of Francis’ Pontificate.

In a future article, I shall offer some insight into how the abbreviated process has been accepted and conducted by diocesan Bishops since the Pope promulgated this remarkable reform in the processing of annulment cases.

We shall see how the Bishops have proven themselves worthy of the grave sacramental and spiritual responsibility which the Holy Father reminded them is an essential part of their episcopal office.