To the Tribunal of the Roman Rota 2025
ShareMarriage causes should focus on the good of the faithful
On Friday, 31 January 2025, in the Clementine Hall, the Holy Father addressed the Officials of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota for the Inauguration of the Judicial Year. Pope Francis called for a streamlining of the process leading to a declaration of nullity.
Dear Prelate Auditors,
The inauguration of the Judicial Year of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota offers me the opportunity to reiterate my expression of appreciation and gratitude for your work. I warmly greet the Monsignor Dean and all of you who provide your service in this Tribunal.
This year will be the 10th anniversary of the two Motu Proprios, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et Misericors Iesus, with which I reformed the process for the declaration of nullity of marriage. It seems timely to take this traditional opportunity to meet with you to recall the spirit that permeated this reform, which you applied with competence and diligence, for the benefit of all the faithful.
The need to modify the norms regarding the procedure for annulment was made manifest by the Synod Fathers gathered in the extraordinary Assembly of 2014, formulating the request to make trials more accessible and streamlined (cf. Relatio Synodi 2014, 48). The Synod Fathers expressed in this way the urgency to complete the pastoral conversion of structures, already called for in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (cf. no. 27).
It was all the more opportune that such conversion should also touch the administration of justice, so that it would respond in the best way possible to those who turn to the Church to shed light on their marital situation (cf. Address to the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, 23 January 2015).
I wanted the diocesan bishop to be at the centre of the reform. Indeed, he is responsible for administering justice in the diocese, both as a guarantor of the closeness of tribunals and supervision of them, and as a judge who must decide personaliter in cases in which nullity appears manifest, that is via the processus brevior as an expression of care for the salus animarum.
Therefore, I urged the inclusion of the activity of the tribunals in diocesan pastoral care, instructing the bishops to ensure that the faithful are aware of the existence of the procedure as a possible remedy to the situation of need in which they find themselves. It is sometimes saddening to learn that the faithful are unaware of the existence of this avenue. Furthermore, it is important “that processes remain free of charge, [so] that the Church ... manifest ... the gratuitous love of Christ by which we have all been saved” (Mitis et Misericors Iesus, Preface).
In particular, the solicitude of the bishop is implemented in guaranteeing by law the constitution, in his diocese, of the tribunal, equipped with well-trained persons — clerics and laity — suited to this function; and ensuring that they carry out their work with justice and diligence. Investment in the training of such workers — scientific, human and spiritual formation — is always to the benefit of the faithful, who are entitled to careful consideration of their petitions, even when they receive a negative response.
The reform was guided — and its application must be guided — by the concern for the salvation of souls (cf. Mitis Iudex, Preface). We are called upon by the pain and hope of so many faithful who seek clarity regarding the truth of their personal situation and thus, regarding the possibility of full participation in the sacramental life. For many who have experienced “an unhappy marriage, verification of the presence or lack of validity of the bond represents an important possibility. And these people must be helped along this road in the swiftest manner” (Address to participants in the course promoted by the Roman Rota, 12 March 2016).
The norms that establish the procedures must guarantee some fundamental rights and principles, primarily the right of defence and the presumption of validity of the marriage. The purpose of the process is not “to complicate the life of the faithful uselessly, nor far less to exacerbate their litigation, but rather to render a service to the truth” (Benedict xvi, Address to the Roman Rota, 28 January 2006).
I am reminded of what Saint Paul vi said, after completing the reform carried out by the Motu Proprio Causas matrimoniales. He observed that “in the simplifications [...] introduced in the treatment of marriage cases, it is desired to make this exercise easier, and therefore more pastoral, without detriment to the principles of truth and justice by which a trial must honestly abide, in the confidence that the responsibility and wisdom of Pastors will be religiously and more directly involved” (Address to the Roman Rota, 30 January 1975).
Likewise, the recent reform was intended to favour “not the nullity of marriages, but the speed of processes as well as the simplicity due them, lest the clouds of doubt overshadow the hearts of the faithful” (Mitis Iudex, Preface). Indeed, to keep the saying “summum ius summa iniuria” (Cicero, De Officiis, i, 10, 33) from becoming a reality as a result of overly complex procedures, I abolished the need for a doppia sentenza conforme [two conforming sentences] and encouraged more rapid decision-making in trials in which nullity is manifest, aiming at the good of the faithful and wishing to bring peace to their consciences. It is evident — but I would like to reiterate it here — that the reform strongly challenges your prudence in applying the norms. And this “requires two great virtues: prudence and justice, which must be informed by charity. There is an intimate connection between prudence and justice, because the exercise of the prudentia iuris is aimed at the knowledge of what is just in the specific case” (Address to the Roman Rota, 25 January 2024).
Every protagonist of the process approaches the conjugal and family reality with veneration, because the family is a living reflection of the communion of love that is God the Trinity (cf. Amoris Laetitia, 11). Moreover, spouses united in marriage have received the gift of indissolubility, which is not a goal to be achieved by their own efforts, nor even a limitation to their freedom, but a promise from God, whose faithfulness makes that of human beings possible. Your work of discernment on the existence or otherwise of a valid marriage is a service, it is a service to the salus animarum, inasmuch as it allows the faithful to know and accept the truth of their own personal situation. Indeed, “every correct judgement of the validity or nullity of a marriage contributes to the culture of indissolubility, in the Church and in the world” (Saint John Paul ii, Address to the Roman Rota, 28 January 2002).
Dear sisters, dear brothers, the Church entrusts to you a task of great responsibility, but above all of great beauty: to help purify and restore interpersonal relationships. The Jubilee context in which we find ourselves fills your work with hope, the hope that does not disappoint (cf. Rm 5:5).
I invoke upon all of you, peregrinantes in spem, the grace of joyful conversion and the light to accompany the faithful towards Christ, who is the meek and merciful Judge. I bless you from my heart, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you!
L'Osservatore Romano
31 January 2025
