In a firm call to avoid “false mercy” in marriage annulment proceedings, Pope Leo XIV said compassion cannot disregard the truth. Source: CNA.
During a Friday audience with participants in the legal-pastoral training course of the Roman Rota, the Holy See’s court of appeals, the Pope read a lengthy speech in which he recalled the importance of the reform of marriage annulment processes initiated by Pope Francis 10 years ago.
The pontiff emphasised that theology, law, and pastoral care must be understood in a harmonious way, not as separate or opposing areas, and pointed out that annulment proceedings are not merely technical procedures to obtain the “free status of persons” but rather an ecclesial service based on the search for truth and on family pastoral care.
In this context, Pope Leo stressed that ecclesial judicial processes must be “at the service of the truth” and also reiterated that “the mystery of the conjugal covenant” must be kept in mind.
“A fundamental aspect of pastoral service operates in judicial authority: the diaconia [ministry] of truth. Every faithful person, every family, every community needs truth about their ecclesial situation in order to walk well the path of faith and charity,” he said.
“The truth about personal and community rights is situated in this context: the juridical truth declared in ecclesiastical processes is an aspect of existential truth within the Church.”
The Pope said that in God’s judgment on salvation, “his forgiveness of the repentant sinner is always at work, but human judgment on the nullity of marriage cannot, however, be manipulated by false mercy”.
“Any activity contrary to the service of the process of truth must certainly be deemed unjust. However, it is precisely in the proper exercise of judicial authority that true mercy must be practised,” he emphasised.
In this regard, Pope Leo XIV insisted that the process of matrimonial nullity can be seen as “a contribution by legal practitioners to satisfy the need for justice that is so deeply rooted in the conscience of the faithful, and thus to accomplish a just work motivated by true mercy”.
He stressed the importance of making “efforts to promote reconciliation between spouses are very important, including, where possible, through the validation of the marriage”.
“Behind the procedural technicalities, with the faithful application of the current legislation, the ecclesiological presuppositions of the matrimonial process are therefore at stake: the search for truth and the salus animarum [the salvation of souls] itself,” he noted.
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Pope Leo XIV warns against ‘false mercy’ in marriage annulment proceedings (By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, CNA)
