Pope to Roman Rota: Discern annulment cases 'with prayer, on your knees'

By Joseph Tulloch

On Thursday, Pope Francis addressed officials from the Vatican’s Tribunal of the Roman Rota, an appeals court. 

In a speech delivered to mark the inauguration of the Judicial Year in the Vatican City State, the Pope 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

“Without prayer," Pope Francis stressed, “one cannot be a judge. If any of you are not praying, please resign... That would be better.”

He went on to underline that "discernment is done on one’s 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.”

“I ask each one of you," Pope Francis said, "Do you pray? Do you feel with the Church? Are you humble in prayer, asking the Lord for light?”

“I come back to this," the Pope 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.”

A great responsibility

The Pope 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 Pope said, is no easy feat. 

Officials of the Tribunal, he noted, have thus been entrusted with a “great responsibility” by the Church, because these decisions “powerfully influence the lives of individuals and families.”

2015 reform of annulments

Pope Francis also commented on his 2015 reform of annulment proceedings, which implemented various measures to speed up the process.

This move, he said, was “inspired by mercy towards the faithful in problematic situations.”

At the same time, however, he said, it ought not to be misunderstood: its aim was to favour “not the annulment of marriages, but the speed of processes.”

Justice and mercy

This led the Pope to discuss the tension between justice and mercy, a theme he has often returned to during his pontificate.  

“Highlighting the importance of mercy in family pastoral work, as I did in particular in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia,” he said, “does not diminish our commitment to seeking justice in annulment cases.”

Rather, he noted, quoting St. Thomas Aquinas: “Mercy does not take away justice, but is the fullness of justice.”

The synodal dimension

Finally, Pope Francis stressed that the process of judicial discernment is “supported and guaranteed” by synodality.

“When the tribunal is collegial,” he said, “or 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.”

The Pope 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.

The full text of Pope Francis' address can be accessed here. 

Pope Francis meets with members of the Tribunal