The pastoral solicitude of the church in the marriage nullity process

Abstract

The raison d'être of Ecclesiastical Tribunals is one of service and assistance to the People of God, in its search for truth so that justice be made. This is no easy quest not least because in the minds of some of our contemporaries, especially people forming part of the Church, law can never be reconciled with love, charity, and mercy. The pastoral role of Church Tribunals is challenged for it is claimed that there is nothing evangelical with Church Tribunals that Christ instituted no tribunal and that indeed such Church Tribunals are institutions that lack any human sentiments. For some, to speak of pastoral action and Tribunal work is a contradictio in terminis. This dissertation will attempt to provide the proof that the judicial activity of the Church is rooted in and promoted by the salus animarum. Chapter 1 entitled 'The role of canon law in the Church' deals with the divine origins of ecclesiastical authority and the pastoral character of the potestas in the Church. It also gives an overview of the resistance to canon law in the history of the Church and the important and transformative changes brought about in the understanding of the judicial work of the Church through the reform of the Code of Canon Law. Chapter 2 discusses the salus animarum as the backbone of the law in the Church. We attempt to give an answer whether can. 1752 is a delimiting clause of the 1983 Code or the end of Canon Law. A discussion of the interpretation of the law and the principle of equity helps us to arrive at a conclusion to this question. We conclude this chapter with a brief excursus on canonical sanction as an instrument of salvation. Chapter 3 deals with the marriage nullity process in the service of the salus animarum. We demonstrate the pastoral character of the marriage nullity process by highlighting the central importance of the ius defensionis. The chapter concludes with a short excursus on the vetitum ? which is a bone of contention in the Church, whether it is a denial of the fundamental right to marry or an opportunity for pastoral solicitude. Finally we wrap up the various arguments brought forward in this dissertation together with some recommendations towards a more pastoral approach in nullity processes.