By Brother Peter Collins, MS

On November 28, the television program "60 Minutes" did a segment on Church annulments. Since that time, the Archdiocesan Metropolitan Tribunal has had a number of calls on the program.

An interview with a woman protesting a declaration of nullity granted by the Milwaukee Tribunal at the request of her husband was the highlight of the program. She complained that this declaration on nullity was an attempt to negate the many years of her married life and make the children illegitimate.

The program was, I thought, not at all a balanced piece of reporting. The program emphasized a negative presentation of the tribunal system. Only one side of the case was given. In a matter of evident complexity and difficulty, only an over-simplified objection was heard. Little attention was given to the fact that this decision of the Milwaukee Tribunal stands presently under appeal to the Rota in Rome, and that a declaration of nullity has no effect at all on the legitimacy of children.

In no area of life, with its many problems, do people suffer grief and anxiety more than in broken marriages. Catholics are not exempt from the conditions and pressures that make for such difficulties. The number of those divorced and perhaps remarried outside the Church presents a grave and urgent pastoral problem. The special pastoral care to separated and divorced Catholics, in this archdiocese and in many others, is a needed attempt to help many hurting daughters and sons of the Catholic Church.

The Church, faithful to the word of Christ that excludes divorce (cf. Matthew 19, 3-12 and Mark 10, 1-12) does not and cannot permit divorce and remarriage as a solution to these problems. Such an approach, though it may seem kind to individuals in painful situations, is excluded by the divine command. Moreover, the good of husbands, wives and children generally is that the enduring force of the marriage covenant be kept clearly in mind. This is important, in an age of easy divorce, for anyone who believes in the indissolubility of marriage.

Still the Church does, when there are grave reasons for this, permit the separation of married partners from common life together. Such cases, however, never justify any claim to a right to dissolve the sacramental marriage bond, or a right to enter on a new marriage.

It should be clearly stated that according to the law of the Church, all individuals baptized in the Christian faith are subject to the jurisdiction of the Church and their marriages are ruled by canon law. Therefore, if a non-Catholic has been involved in a marriage which has ended in civil divorce and wants to marry a Catholic, the party must first seek a declaration of nullity.

Some apparent marriages that "fail" were, in fact, never sacramental marriages. No real marriage covenant was established if one or both of the partners failed to give, or was incapable of giving, free consent; or if one or both did not intend a sacramental marriage, a bond of faithful love, at least in principle open to offspring. If there is reason to suspect a basic incapacity for marriage in the mind or will of one or both partners, then it may be possible to petition the Church for an official acknowledgement of that fact -- this is an annulment, or, more exactly, a declaration of nullity.

Each diocese is required to have a Tribunal. This is a Church court established to render judgment in judicial matters pertaining to ecclesiastical law. Most of the work of a Tribunal is to hear and judge matrimonial cases. Should it be determined that one had not been validly married, then genuine marriage in Christ with another partner might be possible.

Since divorce is forbidden by Christ, the Church wishes to guard carefully entrance into the married state. Here in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, the Office of Family Concerns has all the marriage preparation programs under study with this concern in mind. The programs and permissions required in some cases are done to safeguard the meaning and living of lifelong, indissoluble, sacramental Christian marriage.

Another concern raised recently has been the report, in the secular press, of the marital status of Princess Caroline of Monaco. According to the reports, her now-deceased mother made several special trips to Rome to ask the Holy Father to grant her daughter a declaration of nullity. The news story said that the Holy Father viewed this as akin to a deathbed wish and was now taking care of Caroline.

It was, however, not noted that Church law requires that any marriage of a head of state or royalty or that of a son or daughter who is seeking a declaration of nullity must be presented to the Holy See. The appointment of a Vatican tribunal to consider her request is then customary treatment and not favoritism.

(Brother Peter Collins, MS, is the Advocate on the staff of the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Atlanta)