Fourteen students from Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Singapore and Guam who work in Catholic marriage tribunals will today complete the second stage of the Institute of Tribunal Practice.
The students, cleric and lay, have spent two weeks in classes learning the practical ministry of being auditors, assessors, advocates and defenders of the bond in tribunals dealing with marriage nullity and dissolution cases.
Nine students attended classes in person, and five students via Zoom
The Institute of Tribunal Practice was established in 1978 to educate people about the ministry of the Catholic Church, primarily as it relates to the Church’s laws and procedures regarding the annulment of marriage through the judicial processes, as well as the non-judicial processes for the dissolution of marriage.
The institute is now affiliated with the Catholic Institute of Sydney, and governed by the Canon Law Society of Australia and New Zealand.
The Institute is a two-year program for those who work in Catholic tribunals. Students are required to attend a two-week live-in session in both Stages I and II – currently held at St Joseph’s Spirituality Centre in the Sydney suburb of Baulkham Hills – followed up by practical assignments in the praxis of the ministry of tribunals.
Upon successful completion of the two-year program, students are awarded the Certificate of Achievement and work in their local tribunal offices. Some continue with further studies in Canon Law at ecclesiastical universities such as St Paul University in Canada.
Pope Francis desired to make the Church’s ministry of mercy and justice as accessible to people as possible, and the more people who are formally trained in this ministry, the more his desire is put into practice.
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Local and international students attend Institute of Tribunal Practice (Institute of Tribunal Practice)
