Doves and interlocking wedding bands symbolizing the sacrament of marriage are depicted in a stained-glass window at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church in Deer Park, N.Y. A diocesan bishop is the sole judge in the streamlined process for handling marriage annulments, Pope Francis said. Photo: CNS A diocesan bishop is the sole judge in the streamlined process for handling marriage annulments, Pope Francis has said.
The simplified process “is not an option that the diocesan bishop can choose, but rather an obligation that derives from his consecration and from the mission received”, making the bishop the sole and exclusive authority in charge throughout the three phases of the briefer process, the Pope said.
The Pope made his remarks during an audience on November 25 with canon lawyers, priests and pastoral workers attending a course sponsored by the Roman Rota, a Vatican tribunal that mainly deals with marriage annulment cases.
Peace
The Pope encouraged them to be close to those who are suffering and who expect help “to restore peace to their consciences and God’s will on readmission to the Eucharist”.
The new process “is an expression of the Church that is able to welcome and care for those who are wounded in various ways by life and, at the same time, it is an appeal for the defence of the sacredness of the marriage bond”, he said.
Pope Francis used the occasion to clarify and strongly emphasise how a bishop should not completely delegate the duty of deciding marriage cases to diocesan officials, especially in the streamlined process for handling cases of clear nullity that were established with new norms that took effect at the end of 2015.
He pointed out that the clear role of the diocesan bishop as sole judge in the briefer process was meant to help apply the new laws and increasingly recover an appropriate practice of synodality.