With about 17,000 divorce cases filed in family courts across the state last year, there is no wishing away the reality called short-lived marriages among Keralites. And this is a phenomenon that cuts across religious boundaries. But the laity is finding the going tough, juggling the provisions of Canon Law of the Catholic Church with the interpretations of the civil law.
True, a few thousand couples heading for splitsville may not seriously impact the church with lakhs of believers. But the number of faithful seeking annulment of marriage is on the rise. As per statistics available with the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) Family Commission, on an average there are 100 petitions seeking annulment of marriage pending before each Catholic diocese in the state.
“There are 30 Catholic dioceses in the state. The number of petitions pending before various Diocesan Tribunals is around 3000,” said Fr. Jose Kottayil, secretary of KCBC Family Commission. The number varies from a low 60 in the Ernakulam-Angamali diocese to a startlingly high 500 in the Kanjirappally diocese.
Now, the Family Apostolate under the Changanassery Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church has launched a post-marriage course for newly-wed couples, reportedly a first initiative of its kind.
“The first three years after the marriage is a crucial period in a couple’s life,” says Fr. Cyriac Kottayil, director, Family Apostolate of Changanassery Arch diocese. According to him, the relationship between a man and woman can change for the better if they are given proper counselling after marriage. “A Catholic, who has been granted divorce by the civil court, can get married again by registering the marriage. But it will be blessed by the Church only after the previous marriage is annulled by the Diocesan Tribunal,” said Fr. James Pereppadan, a canon law expert and judge of the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Ernakulam Angamali Archdiocese.
“The procedure can be completed in just eight sittings if both parties cooperate. In many cases situation worsens when parents and relatives intervene in the issue. Secondly, our youth have good IQ, but they lack emotional quotient which often causes discords in relation,” he added.
Fr. Biji Koyipally, who is a counsellor at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, Thuruthy, Changanassery, had a different take on the issue. “Financial security attained by women is a catalyst. Making things worse is the relatively weak spiritual life among the youth,” he added.
Laity disenchanted
Meanwhile, the indefinite delay in declaring verdicts on the marriage annulment petitions in the Apostolate Tribunals of Catholic Churches are forcing many applicants to go in for remarriage that are not solemnised by the church. The Catholic Church does not solmenise a remarriage if the Apostolate Tribunal does not approve the annulment application, even after the applicants are granted a divorce by the civil court. As a result, many young Catholic men and women are increasingly turning to registrar’s offices to record their remarriage and ‘live in sin’ till the church gives its official nod.
“I have chosen to go in for a registered marriage as the Apostolate Tribunal may take many months to declare a verdict on my application. There are around 500 applicants waiting to get a decree from the diocese. So I have no other option except to get married in a register office,” said Stephy, an applicant in a Catholic Diocese for marriage annulment.
There is another issue that remains unaddressed. As per the Canon Law, the Tribunals have the power only to declare a marriage null, which means the marriage is defective from the wedding day itself. This is against the terms of reference in the case of a divorce, where the marriage is called off on the day the divorce gets granted.
“The Apostolate Tribunal is functioning under the Canon Law and it has to complete so many procedures before declaring a marriage annulled. The process will take its own time in the diocese tribunal and the party has to wait to get the nod for the annulment from the Arch Diocese. The normal procedure may take 12 to 18 months. It is not right to blame only the church for the delay in verdict because many applicants will not appear before the court in the allotted days due to various reasons,” Fr. Thomas Vithayathil, Judicial Vicar at the Ernakulam-Angamali Major Archdiocese said.
More than 100 marriage annulment applications are under consideration of the Major Archdiocese and there are also applications from Kothamangalam and Idukki dioceses, which are coming under it, for the final approval. It is being pointed out that the lack of experts in the Canon Law is another reason for the delay in the procedure.
With annulment comes illegitimacy
According to Alex Fr Alex Vadakkumthala, President of the Canon Law Society of India, the marriage that is sought to be annulled will be deemed invalid from the day it was solemnised. “It would be as if the marriage had never taken place. There will be some practical difficulties as far as the identity of their children are concerned,” he said.
They would be left in the lurch as the children cannot take the name of their parents as the latter’s marriage no longer exists in the church records. “They would be considered ‘orphans’ for being born out of wedlock once the marriage stands annulled,” said Joseph Pulikkunnel, Director of Indian Institute of Christian Studies.
Fr. James Pereppadan, a Canon Law expert and judge of the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Ernakulam Angamali Archdiocese said that the Catholic Church does not allow divorce at any case. “The number of those going in for annulment of marriage as a percentage of church goers is negligible. But the children of those who get their marriage annulled are considered illegitimate and born out of wedlock by the church,” he said. The church does not intervene in issues such as financial settlement as they are taken care of by the civil court, he added.
“For declaring a verdict as per the Canon Law needs much knowledge in the subject and theology. The person should have degrees in Canon Law and Church Law to become a judge in the Apostolate Tribunal. Unfortunately the church at present does not have so many experts in this field. Starting more Apostolate Tribunals is the only solution to end this delay in declaring verdicts in the back logging petitions,” Fr. Vithayathil added.
When your application for annulment of marriage has been tagged waiting list No. 450, in all likelihood, it could be well over two years before the process gets over. It is no wonder then that many young Catholic aspirants for remarriage are following up on the mandatory divorce in the civil court by a registered marriage, rather than wait for the green flag of the church.
But this raises several issues. Among them there are two sets of problems. The couple is deemed married in the eyes of the church as their earlier marriage is yet to be nullified. As per the Canon Law, if the remarriage of divorcees happen without nullifying the former marriage, the church consider them as indulging in concubinage and thereby committing a sin.
“Such people cannot lead an active church life. They cannot receive holy communion. But they are not barred from attending the church services,” said Paul Thelekkat, spokesperson, Ernakulam-Angamaly Arch Diocese.
In such cases, they are treated like people from other religions who are allowed to attend the church services but cannot receive holy communion as they are not Catholic.
