Catholic teaching holds that marriage is for life. Yet 28 percent of U.S. Catholics divorce. To remarry in the church, and avoid what Catholicism considers adultery, they must secure annulments from tribunals holding their marriages invalid at the time of the wedding. With a success rate of nearly100percent, annulments have come to be viewed as entitlements. By contrast, Catholic spouses striving to honor their vows find little support from a church that seems to have adopted a U.S. divorce culture mentality. Pope Leo alluded to this crisis during his recent address to the Roman Rota, which hears annulment appeals and regularly overturns decisions by U.S. tribunals. “I think the prevalence of affirmatives has certainly added to people’s concepts that annulments is purely a process rather than a real trial,” said Father Andrew Larkin, a priest and defender of the marriage bond in Savannah’s tribunal. “But I think the divorce factor is huge. I think one of the things that is …
Is the annulment of the Catholic SACRAMENTAL MARRIAGE nothing more than equal to a civil divorce today versus the the Truth of ALMIGHTY GOD? In too many Catholic divorces, it is anathema in opposition to the mandate of JESUS CHRIST which means that the annulments are invalid.
Leo, like Francis, in saying "most" or the "vast majority" of marriages are invalid is just giving a green light to those unhappy to leave one's spouse for another. What about the canonical principle that a marriage is considered valid unless it can BE PROVED to have been null to begin with? For shame!
Many marriages are invalid from the beginning because the couple know NOTHING about this sacrament's permeance, or that birth control and abortion is wrong. The fact that traditionally the husband is the head of the family and also the bread winner also is an important factor. The United States leads in annulments which is a huge scandal.