“A fundamental aspect of pastoral service operates in judicial authority: the diaconia [ministry] of truth. Every faithful person, every family, every community needs truth about their ecclesial situation in order to walk well the path of faith and charity. The truth about personal and community rights is situated in this context: the juridical truth declared in ecclesiastical processes is an aspect of existential truth within the Church,” he stated.
Consequently, the Holy Father pointed out that “the sacred authority is participation in the authority of Christ, and its service to truth is a way of knowing and embracing the ultimate truth, which is Christ himself.”
A manifestation of justice and mercy
He then recalled that in God’s judgment on salvation, “his forgiveness of the repentant sinner is always at work, but human judgment on the nullity of marriage cannot however be manipulated by false mercy.”
“Any activity contrary to the service of the process of truth must certainly be deemed unjust. However, it is precisely in the proper exercise of judicial authority that true mercy must be practiced,” he emphasized.
In this regard, Pope Leo XIV insisted that the process of matrimonial nullity can be seen as “a contribution by legal practitioners to satisfy the need for justice that is so deeply rooted in the conscience of the faithful, and thus to accomplish a just work motivated by true mercy.”
“The aim of the reform,” he added, “which is to make the process more accessible and expeditious, but never at the expense of truth, thus appears as a manifestation of justice and mercy.”
The pontiff also emphasized the urgency of ensuring realism in annulment cases and appealed to the responsibility of the judges of the Roman Rota. He thus encouraged them to view the institution of the judicial process “as an instrument of justice” in which there is “an impartial judge” and the aim is to seek “a great benefit for all concerned and for the Church herself.”
He stressed the importance of making “efforts to promote reconciliation between spouses are very important, including, where possible, through the validation of the marriage.”
“Behind the procedural technicalities, with the faithful application of the current legislation, the ecclesiological presuppositions of the matrimonial process are therefore at stake: the search for truth and the ‘salus animarum’ itself [the salvation of souls],” he noted.
