Vatican City, 11 December 2015 (VIS) –
In the afternoon of 7 December the Holy Father signed the following
Rescriptum ex audientia on the implementation of and compliance with
the new law on procedures for the declaration of nullity of marriage.
“The entry into force – which
happily coincides with the Jubilee of Mercy – of the Apostolic
Letters in the form of Motu proprio 'Mitis Iudex Dominus' and 'Mitis
et Misericors Iesus' of 15 August 2015, given to bring justice and
mercy on the truth of the bond to those who have experienced the
failure of their marriage, necessitates among other things the need
to harmonise the renewed procedures for marriage annulment with the
regulations of the Roman Rota, awaiting their reform.
The recently concluded Synod of Bishops
strongly exhorted the Church to stoop to the 'most fragile sons and
daughters, marked by wounded and lost love', restoring trust and
hope.
The laws that now come into effect are
intended precisely to show the Church's closeness to wounded
families, desiring that the many who experience matrimonial failure
are reached by Christ's healing work through ecclesiastical
structures, in the hope that they may again discover themselves to be
God's missionaries to their brethren, for the good of the institution
of the family.
Acknowledging the jurisdiction of the
Roman Rota as the ordinary court of appeal of the Apostolic See, and
also its office in safeguarding the unity of the jurisprudence (art.
126 para. 1 Pastor bonus) and contributing to the continuing
formation of pastoral workers in the Tribunals of the local Churches,
I decree the following:
I.
The aforementioned laws for the reform
of marriage annulment procedures repeal or waive any contrary law or
regulation currently in force – general, particular or special –
eventually also approved in a specific form (such as, for example,
the Motu proprio 'Qua cura' given by my predecessor Pius IX in times
very different from the present).
II.
1. In marriage annulment cases before
the Roman Rota, doubt must be cast according to the long-standing
formula: An constet de matrimonii nullitate, in casu.
2. There shall be no appeal against the
decisions of the Rota in matters of the nullity of sentences or
decrees.
3 Appeal for the N.C.P. (nova causae
propositio) is not permitted before the Roman Rota after one of the
parties has contracted a new canonical marriage, unless the decision
can be demonstrated to be manifestly unjust.
4. The Dean of the Roman Rota has the
authority to dispense with the Normae Romanae Rotae Tribunalis in
procedural matters for a serious cause.
5. As wished by the Patriarchs of the
Oriental Churches, the territorial tribunals shall have jurisdiction
over the iurium cases connected with marriage annulment cases
submitted to the judgement of the Roman Rota at appeal.
6. The Roman Rota shall decide cases
according to the principle of evangelical gratuity, that is by ex
officio patronage, notwithstanding the moral obligation of the more
affluent faithful to offer a just contribution towards the causes of
the poor.
May the faithful, especially the
wounded and unhappy, look to the new Jerusalem that is the Church as
'the peace of justice, the glory of God’s worship' and may it be
granted to them, finding again the open arms of the Body of Christ,
to sing the Psalm of the Exiles: 'When the Lord restored the fortunes
of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with
laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy'”.
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