The Mission of this Tribunal Under the guidance of our Archbishop is:
To reflect and experience Christ
in the ministry of justice
through the compassionate and equitable
application of church law
and
To protect the rights and dignity
of each person
without discrimination
and to provide
an opportunity for healing.
Early in the Church's life, the need was recognized for some sort of structure to adjudicate questions of justice raised by its members. Jesus outlined the order to be followed when one Christian follower had a complaint against another including the need for witnesses and possible punishment (Mt. 18: 15-17). St. Paul chided early Christians for bringing lawsuits against each other in civil courts rather than approaching the Church first. He writes, "As you know it is the saints who are to judge the world; and if the world is to be judged by you, how can you be unfit to judge trifling cases?" (1 Cor. 7:2). Guided by the Holy Spirit, the Church continued to build on the foundation set by Jesus and spread by the apostles believing that the Lord had given his Church the power of loosening and binding.
Today, centuries after apostolic times, the Church recognizes the authority of many civil courts in most areas of life. But the Church, as a society of believers, claims the exclusive right to answer questions that involve spiritual matters (e.g. sacraments), members' rights, and violations of Church law. In a more formal way, this is done through the Church's own court or legal system. At it's most basic level, this court system exists in every diocese through a tribunal. The archdiocesan tribunal of Baltimore is the first level or instance of the multi-tiered court system of the Roman Catholic Church.
The Baltimore Metropolitan Tribunal conducts ecclesiastical trials. An ecclesiastical trial is similar to its civil counterpart in that it is conducted in order to discover the truth, but it is dissimilar in that the dramatics of some civil trials are not present. There are three possible objects of any Church trial, all with an ultimately pastoral purpose: (1) to prosecute or to vindicate the rights of physical or juridic persons; (2) to declare juridic facts; (3) to impose or declare the penalty for offenses against Church law.
Most often, a person (Petitioner) asks the tribunal to make a declaration concerning the juridic fact of a marriage, that is, the Petitioner wants the tribunal to answer the question: "Did the binding quality of marriage occur when I exchanged marital vows with my former spouse?" Or, to put it another way, "Was my marriage valid or invalid?" This question is asked by the previously married Petitioner who wants to know whether he or she is now free to enter a future valid marriage in the Catholic Church. If the tribunal, following a complete investigation of the facts, finds that a previous marriage was invalid, a Decree of Nullity is issued, termed in common speech an "annulment"
Divorce and Remarriage in the Catholic Church
Few topics are more sensitive than ecclesiastical declarations of nullity, or, in common language, "annulments." This declaration is granted by an ecclesiastical tribunal competent in law to answer the question, "Was a particular marriage, now ended in civil divorce, valid or invalid?" That is to say, does the marriage covenant still bind the husband and wife to each other in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death parts them, despite the decision of a civil divorce court. If the tribunal declares that the civilly ended marriage was not permanently binding (i.e., that it was invalid) from its very beginning, both parties are then free to enter a new and valid marriage. However, at times special counseling may be required as part of the preparation for this new marriage.
While recognizing that with the exchange of marital vows God takes two persons and makes them one flesh, the Church knows that there are times when an element necessary for a valid marriage is missing. If a person claims that something was missing from a marriage to make it invalid, that person has the right to seek the assistance of a tribunal. Most often the person asking for a declaration of nullity will be a Catholic or a person who is now seeking to marry a Catholic. Whether Catholic or not, questions and answers concerning "annulments" are the same; however, because of different needs and understandings, the answers may be slightly nuanced. For more information on the Church's position on divorce and remarriage, you will find several downloadable documents below.
Marriage Cases
What the Church Teaches
Documents to proceed with a Case:
