October 15, 2012
MEMO: TO: Pastors, Parish Administrators, Parochial Vicars, Deacons, and Parish
Marriage Coordinators
FROM: Rev. Vincent R. Juan, JCL
RE: THE MARRIAGE TRIBUNAL IS IN NEED OF PSYCHOLOGISTS AND PSYCHIATRISTS
In light of the 2005 Instruction, Dignitas connubii, the Rotal jurisprudence, and the recent papal allocutions to the Roman Rota regarding causes concerning incapacities mentioned in Canon 1095 (1983 CIC), the Marriage Tribunal of the Diocese of Sacramento is searching for skilled individuals in the field of Psychology or Psychiatry to join our list of experts.
The individual will be asked to do the following:
– Write up a report based on the Acts of the case and the questionnaire provided
– Help diagnose the presence of any psychic anomaly or affective immaturity on the part of the petitioner and/or the respondent at the time of marriage consent.
– Indicate the method used to conduct the investigation.
The interested party must be:
– A practicing Catholic
– In good standing with the Church
– In adherence with principles of Christian anthropology
– With a Doctorate in Psychology or Psychiatry
Since the petitioner will be required to pay an additional fee for the use of psychological expert (see Tribunal Fee Schedule dated July 1, 2009), it would be of great service to those seeking annulment if the interested party can offer his or her services on a reduced rate or pro bono basis.
All interested applicants may submit their curriculum vitae to the Tribunal of the Diocese of Sacramento, 2110 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818. Attention: Rev. Vincent R. Juan, JCL, or Fax (916) 733-0224, or e-mail: VJuan@scd.org.
For inquiries, please call (916)733- 0231 or e-mail Fr. Juan.
Instead of having psychologists handle marriage problems, perhaps more frequent use of the sarament of Penance would be more helpful. For far too long, spiritual remedies have been tossed aside and ignored, while humanistic approaches are encouraged and insisted upon. Some counseling is beneficial, but spiritual direction and frequent use of the sacrament of Penance not only are less expensive, but are also more fruitful.
I agree, Fr. that the sacraments ought to be applied to marriages, perhaps more frequently BEFORE they are entered into by the participants than after. In my own daughter’s case, her marriage was thankfully anulled after a year in the hands of the Tribunal in Las Vegas, NV, when she lives in CA. Thankfully they deemed it invalid when it was discovered that the priest who blessed her civil ceremony was not affored the faculty to marry anyone in the firts place. However, in our own investigation, which the Tribunal in Las Vegas was unwilling to do, we found that her ex husband had been married 3 times, that we could prove on paper, before he “married” her at age 18. I have to admit that at the time she was not practicing her faith, and after many years away from the Church finally was able to return and found a good practicing Catholic man who decided she was well worth his own wait.
The problem with innocence and naivte in the Church is the lack of spiritual development of our young people. If we could reach them sooner in Confirmation than 17, we might enjoy more years of their development before thrusting them into colleges and universities, where they can and usually do, lose their faith. The road back is long and hard, and some do not make it. But application of the “discipline” (in this case the sacraments) would bear more fruit than the modern approach has since Vatican II.
KARL, you’ve missed the point entirely.
they are asking for professionals to work on ANNULMENTS, not marriage counseling.
by the time we’re dealing with annulments, it’s too late for fixing, because the couple is already divorced.
Why do I look at this skeptically? The Sacramento Diocese is awash with high priced “experts” who like to put on bread and circus events to attract Catholics. That costs money. Where is there a source of money? Divorced Catholics. And now, with the Tribunal, pumped up with professional help ready to discover “psychological” reasons for annulling a prior marriage, they can get more annulments on track and bring in more money for the Diocese. Am I cynical? Yes, but also aware of what goes on.
The expected use of experts comes from Rome, not Sacramento. And yes there are “psychological” reasons for annulling a marriage, but they have to have been present at the time of the vows. But it is only one reason that an annullment might be allowed.
If you think Tribunals make money for any diocese, you are sadly mistaken…the hours spent on cases cost the diocese far in excess of what is asked for processing.
And the old saw that wealthy folks can buy an annullment is not true. The fact that Rome is asking for verification by an expert of the psychic incapacity of one of the parties is to prevent the frivilous use of that specific canon. It is a good and reasonable request, but it cost bucks. Note the add states: please consider offer your sevices for free…most tribunals are always broke, but providing a ministry that is needed.
Gee, it’s good the Marriage Tribunal is looking for help. I have a case pending. Pray for deliverance!
Max, thank you for highlighting that little fact for Father. Yet, having been through an annulment process and being a person who had very poor catechesis; on top of being in a family that was always on the move and public school educated during the VII transition, I could not help make some serious mental notes of what was missing, or what could be improved upon, and what was horribly wrong in the process, especially for those returning to the faith who had little understanding of the faith, but were trying to respond to God’s call to come home.
Father is absolutely correct that ‘spiritual direction’ is extremely important for many during such times when they are re-examining their life, especially those who have no idea how to properly discern or how to properly suffer through the process, or understanding of Catholicism. Many old wounds may be open that were thought (or actually had been) forgiven, but resurrected with stinging force.
I too saw “spiritual remedies’ tossed quickly aside, or NEVER mentioned or encouraged to my great puzzlement causing much more pain, and seeded a fear of bringing up my spiritual hunger. A solid faithful Catholic psychology or psychiatry who was ALSO a priest would have been a blessing to me. But so would have been a priest who had time to spiritually direct and had wisdom & understanding about conversions … as one priest stated to me, it is ‘the story of the soul’.
It is not wounds that are forgiven, but the sin, which includes the guilt. The damage typically remains. This is the the outcome of a “good act of contrition”. There also is “perfect contrition”, which not only absolves the guilt but remedies the consequences: Perfect acts of contrition are extremely rare.
A Catholic anullment is not like a civil divorce. Canon law only allows anullments when an exchange of concent never actually took place (or was exhange invalidly for some reason). One such reason could be a mental illness or incapcity of one of the parties at the time of the vows. An expert (psych in this case) is not used for counseling the couple. A divorce has to have already taken place to even approach the Tribunal for nullity.
The expert opinion is a safeguard against the inappropriate use or use of loose criteria for a tribunal to judge that one (or both parties) had a psychic incapacity at the time of the vows that rendered the vows invalid.
For example. A person with a severe mental illness may not have been able to validly give concent at the wedding due to his illness. It is a safeguard put in place by Rome that prevents a judge, who knows the canons, but is not medically trained to recognize mental incapacities, from making the call without a trained expert providing some input.
Remember this is only for a condition present at the time of the vows, not some illness or inability that developes later in the marriage; that is where “for better or worse” come in.
So this is not some crazy idea in Sacramento…it is used by all Tribunals to make sure that a marriage that was contracted validly is not anulled and conversely, that an expert can identify behaviors that would justify judging the marriage invalid due to the incapacity of one party.
Good psych experts are hard to come by and expensive, but it is something Rome is seeking so that the sanctitiy of marriage is upheld.
Psychiatrists and psychologists can be bought, and they call it either differing professional opinions or different psychological philosophies.
Thats why the judicial vicar would spend a significant amount of time interviewing one who is faithful to the teachings of the Church. It is very difficult to find one that is not tainted by crazy theories or perspectives, but good Catholic providers are out there. That why the add says:
– A practicing Catholic
– In good standing with the Church
– In adherence with principles of Christian anthropology
– With a Doctorate in Psychology or Psychiatry
And hopefully with a Catholic view of marriage. Pray that we get more such providers.
Yes, JLS … sigh. It is ‘sin’ that must be acknowledged. Sin can be forgiven …, but there are also ‘wounds’.
Just one more note: Before any case is accepted by the tribunal, a civil divorce must have already taken place. But it still has to be indentified that there is no hope left for reconciliation; which usually has already been addressed by their pastor, if there is one. That usually means that one party left and is already remarried or refused to consider any help. Remember, not all parties are Catholic.
Alice — sad, the ‘addressed by their pastor’ is a very weak link in helping married couples. “If there is one” … is a clue to
Marital counseling will only work if BOTH preitas want it to work. The fact that he has moved out to be with another woman sounds to me as if he’s not interested in resolving whatever issues there were that prompted him to not only cheat on you with a mistress over two years ago, but to move completely out of your life and the marital home. I would think that you’d have consulted with an attorney by now and moved toward severing your relationship with him as he has done with you and then resolved the financial issues that need to be addressed. Then you can move forward with your life and find a man that is going to be there with you for the long term. Counseling will only work individually if he believes this his ways are wayward as hyou think they are. Obviously he doesn’t agree with you.