VATICAN CITY (CNS): For the good of individuals and the Catholic Church as a whole, marriage tribunals must act as quickly as possible while fully following Church law, Pope Benedict XVI said.
“For more than a few of the faithful,” he said, “ecclesiastical sentences in this area, in fact, have an impact on the possibility or not of receiving Communion.”
Pope Benedict met on January 28 with members of the Roman Rota, a Church court dealing mainly with marriage cases.
A tribunal declaration that a marriage was invalid would allow a divorced and civilly remarried couple to have their union recognised by the Church and, therefore, to receive Communion.
Pope Benedict said the reason why so many bishops at the October Synod on the Eucharist raised questions about tribunals and annulment procedures was precisely because receiving the Eucharist is so important.
At times, the Pope said, it can appear that pastoral concern for people in irregular marriage situations clashes head-on with the Church’s insistence that matrimony is forever and that annulments may be granted only when there is clear proof that the conditions for a valid marriage did not exist from the beginning.
Pope Benedict said it also was very important that the Church’s pastoral approach to couples be evident long before any troubles arise.
