Church tribunals must protect marriage, Pope says

JPII often spoke against the number of Null decisions granted by Tribunals, so much so that one headline said he BLASTED the number granted!

Pope, In Address To US Bishops, Blasts Number of Annulments - 10/19/1998

In FAMILIARIS CONSORTIO (Sec 20) , on 12/15/1981, Pope John Paul II said the following, with special emphasis on those who choose to uphold marital vows in spite of what 'Man' tries to say/do here on earth:

The gift of the sacrament is at the same time a vocation and commandment for the Christian spouses, that they may remain faithful to each other forever, beyond every trial and difficulty, in generous obedience to the holy will of the Lord: "What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder."[55] To bear witness to the inestimable value of the indissolubility and fidelity of marriage is one of the most precious and most urgent tasks of Christian couples in our time. So, with all my brothers who participated in the Synod of Bishops, I praise and encourage those numerous couples who, though encountering no small difficulty, preserve and develop the value of indissolubility: Thus in a humble and courageous manner they perform the role committed to them of being in the world a "sign"--a small and precious sign, sometimes also subjected to temptation, but always renewed--of the unfailing fidelity with which God and Jesus Christ love each and every human being. But it is also proper to recognize the value of the witness of those spouses who, even when abandoned by their partner, with the strength of faith and of Christian hope have not entered a new union: These spouses too give an authentic witness to fidelity, of which the world today has a great need. For this reason they must be encouraged and helped by the pastors and the faithful of the church.

Now, we have another Pope speaking Truth. So when, exactly, will our Canon Lawyers, Bishops, Priests, Catholic Lawyers and Judges, and people .... begin to listen? When exactly will we begin to hear the message of indissolubility come from the pulpits?

My people PERISH for lack of Knowledge... so says the Good Book...
Emphasis in the above, and in the news story below are this writer's.

God bless!

Church tribunals must protect marriage, Pope says

Vatican, Jan. 29, 2007 (CWNews.com)

Vatican, Jan. 29 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has encouraged Church tribunals to fight against the perception that marriage is “a mere formalization of the ties of affection.”

Speaking to the judges and officials of the Roman Rota-- the tribunal that handles appeals of decisions by local marriage tribunals-- the Holy Father insists that Church tribunals must uphold the truth about Christian marriage, and particularly its permanence.

When marriage is seen only as the union of affections, the Pope explained, “marriage not only becomes contingent-- as human affections can be contingent-- but appears as a superimposed legal structure which human will can manipulate at will, even denying its heterosexual character."

Marriage, the Pontiff continued, is certainly a union of the will, but it is more than that. The character of the conjugal union is fixed by human nature. “The indissolubility of marriage does not derive from the definitive commitment of the two parties involved; rather it is intrinsic to the nature of the potent bond established by the Creator,” he said.

Pope Benedict cautioned the ecclesiastical judges against a notion that has arisen since Vatican II: the idea that an indissoluble marriage is an idea that not all Christians can be expected to reach. That attitude, he pointed out, runs directly counter to the Scriptural injunction: “What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder."

The proper understanding of Christian marriage forms a stark contrast to the “subjective and libertarian realization of sexuality,” the Pope went on. At a time when the Western world has lost all clear understanding about the meaning of human sexuality, he said that the Church must defend the standards of the natural law and the Scriptural mandate in spite of all opposition.

As the tribunal of the Roman Rota opens is judicial year, the Pope appealed to the judges to face the truth about marriage squarely “without allowing yourselves to be seduced by interpretations that entail a break with the tradition of the Church." The Vatican has released statistics showing that the Roman Rota granted 67 marriage annulments in 2005, out of 262 cases that came before the tribunal. The cases came on appeals from Church tribunals in 27 different countries.

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Our vows:
The groom says:I (...), take you (...) to be my wife.
I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad,
in sickness and in health.
I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.

The bride says:I (...), take you (...) to be my husband.
I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad,
in sickness and in health.
I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.


"Right is still right if nobody is right,
and wrong is still wrong if everybody is wrong,"
Archbishop Fulton J Sheen author of The Life of Christ