Long after most Archdiocesan Catholic Center staff members have left for the day, volunteers for the Archdiocesan Marriage Tribunal office on the 12th floor work the phones Monday through Thursday, taking testimony from witnesses, petitioners and respondents in annulment cases.
They are dedicated participants in recently implemented efforts to create a "seamless garment of pastoral care" between parishes and the Metropolitan Tribunal as they deal with one of the most delicate and difficult issues faced in the Church: the breakup of a marriage.
That means answering and coping with many erroneous perceptions and much confusion about what the Catholic Church does and does not teach about divorce, remarriage and the reception of sacraments, to say nothing of the annulment process itself. In the wake of the October Synod of Bishops at the Vatican, which addressed the topic of divorced and remarried Catholics, the work of the Tribunal as a means of pastoral ministry has become especially important.
Gathering information
Husband and wife auditor team Hal and Gloria Hill, from St. Dorothy Church in Glendora, take the Thursday 3-8 p.m. shift most weeks. Retired bankers who used to conduct business in downtown L.A. high-rises, the Hills ride the elevators to the 12th floor in the ACC building to work on behalf of annulment petitioners they will most likely never meet.
"We enjoy doing it; it's fulfilling," said Hal, who spends an average of an hour on the phone per witness. Oral testimony is faster than written, and the taped recordings are delivered to a Carmelite monastery the next day where typed transcriptions are turned around promptly by the religious sisters.
Hal figures he has taken testimonies on 100 annulment cases since he and his wife, along with fellow St. Dorothy parishioner/volunteer Carol Brassfield, started commuting together to the Tribunal a year ago to help Msgr. Charles Chaffman, judicial vicar, catch up with the backlog.
"Out of the whole process, we only do a part," said Hal. "If it leads to someone coming back to the sacraments, it's fantastic."
The Hills got involved after attending last year's archdiocesan Metropolitan Tribunal's Spirit and Law Convention, the annual workshop for ministers submitting annulment applications. "I find it very gratifying," said Gloria. "It's so important to have second marriages blessed in the church. For those seeking annulments who are not remarried, it brings peace."
Perceptions and reality
Gloria Hill stressed that both petitioner and "respondent" (former spouse) are equally important in the annulment process. "It's a misconception that Catholic petitioners will be favored over non-Catholic respondents," she said.
That is not the only misconception that Tribunal workers deal with among those they serve. Among others:
---Annulments are automatically granted. In fact, said Hal Hill, not everyone who petitions for an annulment receives one, although cases may be appealed.
---Annulments are all about a petitioner's ability to pay the $500 fee, with special treatment afforded the wealthy. "This is absolutely not true," said archdiocesan Tribunal paralegal Krysten Newbury.
---If a petition is accepted by the Tribunal, it means the petitioner is "blameless" regarding the breakup of the marriage. "Often, grounds of nullity [the canonical reason(s) determining the basis of invalidity] are found on the petitioner," said Newbury.
Whatever grounds of nullity may be found declaring that the marriage was not a Christian marriage in accordance with church teaching, it does not affect the status of legitimacy of children, nor does it affect obligations to any children of the marriage, including child support. Grounds of nullity center around "defects of consent" at the time of the marriage relating to lack of "knowledge," "due will" or "due capacity."
"Over the years, there's been confusion and anger about the whole annulment process," said Julie Monell, a 12-year archdiocesan Department of Family Life volunteer minister to divorced and separated Catholics. Monell, who received an annulment in the mid-'90s, acknowledged a lot of people don't attempt an annulment for various reasons, including time constraints.
Some newly separated people, Monell noted, mistakenly believe they may not receive Communion. Separated and divorced Catholics may continue to receive Communion; divorced Catholics who have remarried without receiving an annulment are not permitted to receive the sacrament.
Remarried faithful
It was clarified at the Vatican Synod of Bishops in October that divorced and remarried Catholics without annulments are welcome to attend Mass and participate in the life of the church even though they cannot partake of the Eucharist. The Communion ban stems from the church's teaching regarding the indissolubility of sacramental marriage as stated in Genesis 2: 23-24 (Mt 19, 5; Eph 5, 31): "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh…Therefore a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."
According to a summary of the Synod Fathers' Propositions provided by the Vatican Information Service, divorced and re-married faithful "cannot be admitted to holy Communion, being in a position of objective contrast with the Word of the Lord which conferred on marriage the original value of indissolubility…. Nevertheless, people who have divorced and re-married still belong to the Church, which welcomes them and follows them with special attention that they may cultivate a Christian lifestyle through participation in Mass (though without receiving communion), listening to the Word of God, adoring the Eucharist, prayer, participating in community life, confidential dialogue with a priest or a master of spiritual life, dedication to living charity, works of penance, and education commitment to their children" (Proposition 40).
San Fernando Region Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson said he was gratified that Pope Benedict XVI allowed Synod delegates the freedom of a "full discussion" regarding Eucharist for divorced and remarried. "That's where I see hope," said Bishop Wilkerson. "The delegates struggled with this and expressed deep concern and love."
Proposition 40's opening statement reflects this sentiment: "In keeping with the numerous pronouncements of the Church's Magisterium, and sharing the anxious concern expressed by many Fathers, the Synod of Bishops reaffirms the importance of attitudes and pastoral actions that express attention and welcome towards divorced and re-married faithful."
Regarding the annulment process, the Synod authors expressed the hope "that all possible efforts be made both to ensure the presence, pastoral character, and correct and swift activity of Ecclesiastical Tribunals for causes of the nullity of marriage, and to dedicate further study to the essential elements of the validity of marriage, also bearing in mind the problems emerging from the profound anthropological transformations of our times, by which the faithful themselves risk being conditioned, especially given the lack of solid Christian formation."
Locally, the Metropolitan Tribunal has implemented several programs to facilitate the processing of annulments, which average 500 cases annually. Besides expanded hours for testimony recruitment, the Tribunal has multi-lingual auditors taking testimonies in English, Spanish and Vietnamese. Future plans also call for Chinese, Korean and Tagalog speaking auditors. In addition, an "advocates" program is being developed in parishes to train volunteers to help an annulment petitioner prepare their applications.
Over the last two years, several St. John's seminarians have served at the Tribunal office taking testimonies as part of their parish internship. Also, five local students in The Vietnamese International Institute of Pastoral Studies program, the first Vietnamese language pastoral studies institute in North America and abroad, intern at the Tribunal as part of their field education one day a week from 1-9 p.m. "It is the hope of the Vietnamese Institute that these students will take their Tribunal internship experience back to Vietnam and possibly serve in some capacities in the different Tribunals there," said Father Peter Ngo, archdiocesan adjutant judicial vicar.
Regional outreach
"Our goal is to do regional educational programs so that every parish has trained advocates and auditors providing a seamless garment of pastoral care," said Msgr. Chaffman. He has developed a shortened nine-question application for petitioners as part of a pilot program to speed case acceptance and processing. "It's the mind of the church to complete the annulment process in a year, and we're succeeding," Msgr. Chaffman explained.
In January of this year, at the invitation of St. Dorothy parish, Msgr. Chaffman and Newbury traveled to Glendora to meet with over 100 individuals attending an information evening on annulments. "It was overwhelming. People came from as far away as Orange County," said Father John Moloney, St. Dorothy associate pastor. He had sent a letter to all 3,000 parishioner families about the seminar after observing the growing trend of second marriages.
While 97 people had RSVP'd, 111 showed up, many of them non-resident grown children of parishioners. Participants received the nine-question application form and 29 people returned two weeks later with completed paperwork. Others sent in the application directly to the Tribunal, and, to date, 41 annulment cases have been completely processed.
"People were clamoring for another session," said Father Moloney. In October, a second information session was held at St. Dorothy drawing 60 participants, including several walk-ins. A follow-up intake session has resulted in the initiation of several annulment cases now in progress.
"The need is so great out there," said Monell, currently leading a nine-week Divorce and Beyond support group at St. Bede Church in La Cañada. She is encouraged about the Tribunal's goal to train deacons and parishioners to assist more people through an annulment.
Reflecting on her annulment experience, Monell said she received valuable insights going through the process. "You gain the ability to see yourself differently," said Monell, who will marry her fiancé, Conrad, early next year. Next week: Archdiocesan spiritual support for divorced and separated Catholics.
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