Folia Canonica 8. (2005)
STUDIES - Wojciech Kowal: Norms for Preparing the Process for the Dissolution of the Matrimonial Bon din Favour of the Faith
90 WOJCIECH KOWAL OMI The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith also communicated to chancery offices a document designated Notes Regarding the Documentary and Procedural Aspects ofFavour of the Faith Cases, which include a revised summary form and a model of the promises needed in the case of a mixed marriage. Soon after the promulgation of the new Norms on the process for the dissolution of marriage in favour of the faith, several commentaries on the new legislation appeared in canonical periodicals.4 They aimed, first of all, at presenting the legislation to canonists entrusted with instructing the process on the diocesan level and paid special attention to both the differences and similarities between the 2001 Norms and the preceding Instruction of 1973. The main purpose of this article is to help practitioners of canon law, accustomed to the previous norms, to make a smooth transition. Even more so, the promulgation of the new Norms serves, as was to be expected, as a convenient occasion to reflect more profoundly on the theological and canonical principles underlying the present legislation. One can only expect that this will bring about some new perspectives and possibilities. For, as the Preface to the 2001 Norms underlines, the exercise of the ministerial power of the pope regarding non-sacramental marriages always takes into account “the pastoral circumstances of times and places.” I. Substantive Principles Underlying the Process for Dissolution of Marriage in Favour of the Faith The new Norms, unlike the previous ones, are preceded by a Preface which summarizes the main doctrinal principles concerning dissolution of the marriage bond in favour of the faith and presents the historical development of the respective discipline. First of all, the Preface underlines the theological principle that the Roman Pontiff enjoys the power to dissolve those marriages which do not enjoy absolute 4 See J. Kowal, “Nuove ‘Nonne per lo scioglimento del matrimonio in favorem fidei',” in Periodica, 91 (2002), 459-506 and “Le Norme per lo scioglimento del matrimonio in favorem fidei', parte procédurale,” in Periodica, 93 (2004), 265-325; F.C. Easton, “Favour of the Faith Cases and the 2001 Norms of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” in Proceedings of the Sixty-Fourth Annual Convention, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 7-10, 2002, Washington, DC, Canon Law Society of America, 2002, 97-119; P. Moneta, “Le nuove norme per lo scioglimento del matrimonio in favore della fede,” in It Diritto Ecclesiastico, 113 (2002), 1331-1346; F.R. Aznar GIL, “Nuevas normas sobre la disolución del vinculo matrimonial no sacramental,” in Revista Espanola de Derecho Canónico, 60 (2003), 141-169; K.M. AMBORSKI, The Development of the Process for the Dissolution of the Matrimonial Bond in Favour of the Faith, Romæ, Pontificia Université Lateranense, 2004.
