CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas. INQUIRER FILE
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday welcomed Pope Francis’ reforms on the process of annulling Catholic marriages, saying that “a lot of fresh air has been entering the windows of the Church.”
In a statement, CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas said the Pope’s recent move was his way of “reaching out tenderly to those who suffer from invalid marriages.”
“The process has been simplified and dramatically shortened. The matrimonial tribunals must be brought closer to the people; in fact, each diocese is mandated to have such marriage courts with the Bishop as the symbol of Christ the Lawgiver and Judge,” Villegas said.
“The services of the Church must be more accessible to the people; the process to receive those blessings of new peace for those who have suffered long must be simplified. Indeed, this is another proof of the old adage in Church pastoral ministry—the salvation of souls is the supreme law,” he added.
Pope Francis on Tuesday released a new law that will allow bishops to fast-track the annulment procedure, which has long been criticized by Catholics for being expensive and complicated.
READ: Pope speeds up, simplifies process for marriage annulments
Villegas said the CBCP was one with Pope Francis in reaching out to “Catholics who suffer quietly from the bond and obligations of what they thought was a marriage; when the truth is there was no marriage to speak of from the very start.”
“More doors are being opened in welcome. ‘Come to me all who are weary and find life burdensome and I will give you rest,’ says the Lord,” he said.
But the Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop noted that the Church’s teaching on the sacrament of matrimony remains firm, adding that annulment is different from divorce.
“The teaching about the indissolubility and unit of marriage remains. The doctrine about the sacredness of marriage and family life is unchanged. The declaration of nullity of marriages is not divorce,” Villegas said. Yuji Vincent Gonzales/JE
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