杏MAP导航 to Roman Rota: Discern annulment cases 'with prayer, on your knees'
By Joseph Tulloch
On Thursday, 杏MAP导航 Francis addressed officials from the Vatican鈥檚 Tribunal of the Roman Rota, an appeals court.
, the 杏MAP导航 discussed the process of discernment as it applies to annulment cases.
He discussed the tension between justice and mercy, the importance of prayer for the judges' work, and the close relationship between judicial discernment and synodality.
The centrality of prayer
鈥淲ithout prayer," 杏MAP导航 Francis stressed, 鈥渙ne cannot be a judge. If any of you are not praying, please resign... That would be better.鈥�
He went on to underline that "discernment is done on one鈥檚 knees, imploring the gift of the Holy Spirit; only in this way can decisions be reached that promote the good of individuals and the entire Church community.鈥�
鈥淚 ask each one of you," 杏MAP导航 Francis said, "Do you pray? Do you feel with the Church? Are you humble in prayer, asking the Lord for light?鈥�
鈥淚 come back to this," the 杏MAP导航 emphasised. "A judge's prayer is essential to his task. If a judge does not pray or cannot pray, he had better go and do another job.鈥�
A great responsibility
The 杏MAP导航 then went on to stress the importance of the responsibility facing the judges of the Rota, who must decide whether to grant annulments when they have been contested in lower courts.
Achieving the "moral certainty" necessary to make such decisions, the 杏MAP导航 said, is no easy feat.
Officials of the Tribunal, he noted, have thus been entrusted with a 鈥済reat responsibility鈥� by the Church, because these decisions 鈥減owerfully influence the lives of individuals and families.鈥�
2015 reform of annulments
杏MAP导航 Francis also commented on his 2015 reform of annulment proceedings, which implemented various measures to speed up the process.
This move, he said, was 鈥渋nspired by mercy towards the faithful in problematic situations.鈥�
At the same time, however, he said, it ought not to be misunderstood: its aim was to favour 鈥渘ot the annulment of marriages, but the speed of processes.鈥�
Justice and mercy
This led the 杏MAP导航 to discuss the tension between justice and mercy, a theme he has often returned to during his pontificate.
鈥淗ighlighting the importance of mercy in family pastoral work, as I did in particular in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia,鈥� he said, 鈥渄oes not diminish our commitment to seeking justice in annulment cases.鈥�
Rather, he noted, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas: 鈥淢ercy does not take away justice, but is the fullness of justice.鈥�
The synodal dimension
Finally, 杏MAP导航 Francis stressed that the process of judicial discernment is 鈥渟upported and guaranteed鈥� by synodality.
鈥淲hen the tribunal is collegial,鈥� he said, 鈥渙r when there is only one judge but he consults with those in authority, discernment takes place in an atmosphere of dialogue or discussion in a common search for truth.鈥�
The 杏MAP导航 brought his address to a close by entrusting the work of the judges to "Most Holy Mary, Virgo prudentissima e Speculum iustitiae," the Most Wise Virgin and Mirror of Justice.
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