The Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Baltimore will no longer request a contribution to process an annulment case.
Archbishop William E. Lori implemented the policy change, which went into effect July 1. It was in response to a request by Pope Francis in 2015 to make the annulment process quicker and less expensive for couples.
In documents reforming the annulment process released by Pope Francis in 2015 – especially “Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus” (“The Lord Jesus, the Gentle Judge”) for the Latin-rite church – the pope’s chief aim was to reaffirm the indissolubility of marriage while offering pastoral care, mercy and a welcoming hand to people whose broken unions were defective from the beginning.
Father Gilbert J. Seitz, judicial vicar for the archdiocese, told the Catholic Review, “The Holy Father has been trying to impress upon the ministers of justice throughout the world – both in Rome and in other dioceses all over – to eliminate any and all obstacles that would keep people from approaching a Tribunal and see a resolution of the question regarding a marriage bond.
“As a result of that, Archbishop Lori thought that it appropriate, particularly in this year, as we celebrate the year of the Eucharist, that we in Baltimore take the action that the Holy Father has suggested and remove that obstacle,” Father Seitz said.
In the past, the archdiocese requested a contribution of no more than $550 per case, but the contribution was not required. “It wasn’t actually a fee; it wasn’t as if you had to make that payment or you would not receive a final decree from us,” he said.
If people could make the contribution, the Tribunal was happy to accept it to help defray its costs to review and process the case.
Many people believed that there was a “charge” for an annulment, but that was not the case.
“If they were unable to make the contribution, under no circumstances would our service to them or our ministry to them in this matter be interrupted because of the lack of payment,” Father Seitz said. “We simply asked folks for that contribution and if they could, if their means allowed them, then we were very welcoming to receive that, but if their means didn’t allow it, then it became inconsequential.”
As a result of the new policy, there is no longer any financial contribution or financial commitment connected with the ministry the Tribunal offers to those who need it, he added.
“The concern of the archbishop, as was the concern of the Holy Father, is that any and all obstacles be removed so that folks can approach Tribunals when they have that need without being (financially) burdened,” Father Seitz said.
Since the Tribunal’s approach to finances has been so accommodating in the past, he said, some people approaching the Tribunal to begin the annulment process are not surprised that no contribution is being requested, but they are “extremely thankful that the financial burden has been lifted, especially in in the midst of a pandemic and the uncertainty of the economy. I think folks are just grateful that’s a burden that they don’t have to worry about,” he said.
The archdiocesan Tribunal processes between 150 and 180 marriage cases per year using the formal process. Father Seitz said one of the reforms instituted by Pope Francis’ 2015 letters to make the process more “user-friendly” was to eliminate “the need for an automatic appeal if a decision of a lower court is in favor of the invalidity of the marriage,” that is, to grant the annulment.
That alone made a significant difference in the speed of the process. Since each Tribunal in the Province of Baltimore – which includes much of Maryland and the states of Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia – spent time reviewing cases of nullity from other dioceses, the lesser workload allows the Tribunal to complete cases more quickly.
“Usually in the Archdiocese of Baltimore right now, as in other dioceses in the province, it would be realistic to complete a case in about six months,” Father Seitz said.
He said that resolving marriage cases brought before the Tribunal is essentially pastoral care in the form of a process in Canon Law, the law of the church.
“Our ministry, more than anything else, is about enabling people to encounter the Lord Jesus,” the judicial vicar said. “So many folks, because of the hurt and pain of divorce, feel themselves alienated from former family members, perhaps from their own family members, from the church.
“And they come to us pained and burdened with those hurts and those pains, and our hope is that in utilizing the juridic process that the church establishes in a very pastoral way, we can help facilitate some healing for those folks, which would then enable them to recognize themselves as a member of the Body of Christ, wounded but healed, and as one who has encountered the risen Jesus, wounded and healed,” he said.
“And it’s amazing what can be accomplished when you take that woundedness, and that sense of healing and share it with others.”
Father Seitz said he often reminds his staff that they can follow the legal procedures well and with untold precision, but “if we have not done it in a way that enables folks to meet the risen Christ, we have not fulfilled our service to them, as we should.”
He said one of the tactics he employs is to carefully review a request for a petition or a petition to begin a case, before launching the formal case process.
If the petition is weak, or lacks something, he won’t accept it, sometimes encouraging the minister working with the party to dig deeper into the grounds for annulment. In that way, if and when the petition is accepted and the case begins, the questions the Tribunal asks can be better targeted to get the information the judges need to make a determination.
Without that care and concern, the case could go to completion and get a negative decision. “That, to me, will only add to the hurt and pain that folks have experienced,” Father Seitz said.
Even so, the process is not always easy for those going through it, because they need to address and acknowledge some things about their failed relationship that they would prefer not to admit.
“Hopefully, we can do that in a way that folks feel safe and not judged,” Father Seitz said. “And if we do that right, we can help people to grow and heal. And that’s our first concern because ultimately that gets to their salvation.”
He said that, in some cases, the decree of nullity may also allow people to return in full to the sacraments. He emphasized that it is incorrect that all divorced Catholics are unable to receive the Eucharist. Only those who are divorced and remarried outside the church are not to receive the Eucharist.
“If we grow and heal, we can find ourselves closer to the Lord Jesus and when we are closer to the Lord Jesus, we are that much closer to our salvation,” he said.
Father Seitz said he hopes that no longer being asked for a financial contribution for the annulment process enables people to “make a financial contribution or a contribution of their talent to other needs of the archdiocese or to the wider church. Perhaps the monies that would have come to us because of our service to someone could be given to a shelter for homeless people or to further the cause of justice in the archdiocese,” Father Seitz said.
“Maybe because of our service to folks, they will find themselves in a position to contribute their time more generously to a cause that furthers the Gospel.”
To begin the annulment process, Father Seitz said parishioners can contact their local parish or contact the Tribunal directly.
For more information, visit www.archbalt.org/marriage-tribunal.
Email Christopher Gunty at editor@catholicreview.org.
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