Defense of Marriage Act

Catholic News Agency reported on January 31, 2005:
On Saturday, in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the dean, prelate auditors, officials, and lawyers of the tribunal of the Roman Rota, the Vatican office which oversees worldwide requests for annulments, for the inauguration of the judicial year. The Holy Father, who traditionally receives the group in late January, reflected this year on the moral dimension of the activity of judges in ecclesiastical tribunals, "especially regarding their duty to abide by the truth about marriage, as it is taught by the Church."
"Individual and collective interests," said the Pope, "can, indeed, induce the parties to resort to various kinds of falsehood and even corruption with the aim of obtaining a favorable sentence.”
There is no immunity from this risk, even for canonical hearings which seek the truth concerning the existence or non-existence of matrimony." John Paul II highlighted the fact that, "in the name of supposed pastoral requirements, some voices have been raised to propose declaring the annulment of unions that have failed completely.”
“To obtain this outcome,” he said, “it has been suggested using expedients to maintain outward procedural appearances, and hide the absence of a true judicial process. In this way, there is a temptation to impose and find proof for a decree of annulment in contrast with the most elementary principles of the Church's norms and Magisterium." The Holy Father went on: "The objective juridical and moral danger of such behavior is clear, and it certainly does not constitute a pastorally valid solution to the problems raised by matrimonial crises." The Pope recalled how in various addresses to the Roman Rota, he had referred to the "essential relationship that its proceedings have with the search for objective truth.”
“Responsibility for this falls,” the Pope said, “in the first place, on bishops, who by divine law are the judges of their communities." Bishops must also "consider the suitability of members of the tribunals ... and assess whether the sentences are in conformity with right doctrine."

The Pope is set to dramatically toughen the Church’s stance on marriage annulments by rejecting outright plans for a ‘fast track’ process. Presently, two tribunals must agree before an annulment is granted, but a radical proposal by a commission headed by Church Chief Justice Cardinal Mario Pompedda envisages dispensing with the need for the second verdict, thereby speeding up the process markedly. However, sources in Rome report that the pontiff has this week placed his firm backing behind the present system in a move clearly calculated to protect the Sacrament of Marriage. The move comes against the background of new statistics published this week which show an ever growing number of requests for annulments over the past 20 years.