Jus novum (c. 1140-1563) Jus novissimum (c. 1563-1918) Jus codicis (1918-present) Other Sacraments Sacramentals Sacred places Sacred times Supra-diocesan/eparchal structures Particular churches Juridic persons Philosophy, theology, and fundamental theory of Catholic canon law Clerics Office Juridic and physical persons Associations of the faithful Pars dynamica (trial procedure) Canonization Election of the Roman Pontiff Academic degrees Journals and Professional Societies Faculties of canon law Canonists Institute of consecrated life Society of apostolic life In the Catholic Church, a declaration of nullity, commonly called an annulment and less commonly a decree of nullity,[1] and in some cases, a Catholic divorce, is an ecclesiastical tribunal determination and judgment that a marriage was invalidly contracted or, less frequently, a judgment that ordination was invalidly conferred.
[3] The Catholic Church teaches that, in a true marriage, one man and one woman become "one flesh" before the eyes of God.
According to Matthew 19:5–6 and 1 Corinthians 7:10–11, the Church cannot separate what has been united by God, but with his aid can rule that a marriage has been null since the time of its celebration.
For annulment, proof is required of the existence of one of these defects, since canon law presumes all marriages are valid until proven otherwise.
[10] That means that the marriage of a Catholic is valid only if it is contracted before the local ordinary (e.g. the bishop), the parish priest or a cleric deputed by either of them and two witnesses are present.
If one of the parties is Catholic, but there is a serious reason why the marriage should be celebrated in a civil ceremony or in front of a non-Catholic minister, a dispensation can be granted according to Can.
[12] If no dispensation was granted in advance and the couple – one of them being a Catholic at the time of the wedding – did not observe the canonical form, the marriage is considered invalid in the eyes of the church.
1060, a Declaration of Nullity by the proper ecclesiastical authority is necessary to prove that the marriage was indeed invalid due to the lack of form.
[12] However, in situations where there was a complete absence of the canonical form (e.g. if the marriage was concluded in a civil ceremony) and a Catholic later wants to get married in canonical form to a different person, in many (but not all) dioceses the possibility exist for the parish priest to declare the former civil marriage invalid as part of his prenuptial investigation, which is mandated by Can. 1066–1067.
Pope Benedict XVI in his address to the Roman Rota in 2009,[19] echoing words of his predecessor John Paul II, has criticized "the exaggerated and almost automatic multiplication of declarations of nullity of marriage in cases of the failure of marriage on the pretext of some immaturity or psychic weakness on the part of the contracting parties".
Calling for "the reaffirmation of the innate human capacity for matrimony", he insisted on the point made in 1987 by John Paul II that "only incapacity and not difficulty in giving consent invalidates a marriage".
Acts 27:23 mentions a link between human creatures of God and their guardian angel, who is made of pure spirit without matter.
Critics point to this as additional evidence that a Catholic annulment is similar to divorce; although civil laws regard the offspring of all marriages as legitimate.
[24] Annulment respondents who want to use canon law to defend their marriage against declarations of invalidity have the right to have a competent advocate assisting them.
The petition must describe, in a general way, the facts and proofs that the petitioner is using as the basis for alleging that parties' marriage is invalid.
An affirmative decision is granted when the majority of Judges reaches the "Moral certainty" that the petitioner proved his case.
Moral certainty cannot exist if, objectively speaking, there are probable indications of the contrary in a case, and it differs from other standard of decision (i.e. "beyond reasonable doubt").
Pope John Paul II expressed concern over the relative ease with which an annulment can be obtained in the United States.
[26] Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI were worried about the ease with which annulments were being granted, especially when premised on ill-defined grounds such as "immaturity or psychic weakness" or "psychic immaturity",[27] an expression of concern that the term "annulment" is being regarded as synonymous with "divorce".
Pope Francis expressed worries over the fact that probably "half of all marriages are null" [28] in the light of canon law.