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Annulments
What is an annulment?
Strictly speaking, the word, annulment, is a misnomer. The
correct term is declaration of nullity.
The process is a judicial one, a trial, during which the
bond of marriage is placed on trial to determine whether it
was a valid, sacramental marriage from the very beginning.
As in any trial, there are parties to the case. Here they
are termed the petitioner and the respondent. The petitioner
is the person who presents the petition to the eparchial
tribunal; the respondent is the other party to the marriage.
A third party involved is the defender of the bond. This
officer of the tribunal has the task of defending the bond
of marriage itself.
When the tribunal has received the respondent's petition,
the vicar judicial, who is the head of the whole tribunal,
assigns the judges and other officers who will be involved
in the particular case. The judges on the case rule whether
to accept the petition or not. If they do, the respondent is
notified of the case and of the right to due process. When
all of the evidence has been gathered and the parties are
satisfied that there is no further evidence to be acquired,
it is made available to the parties so that they can submit
briefs to the judges. After the period of time allowed for
this, the judges write their sentences and then meet to
discuss their findings. They determine the sentence, whether
in favor of nullity or not; the sentence is written and the
decision communicated to the parties.
The parties can appeal the tribunal's sentence. If no one
appeals an affirmative decision, it still must go to the
appellate tribunal for consideration. That tribunal can
either ratify the first sentence or decide to re-try the
case.
When all appeals have been completed, the parties are
notified of the final decision.
How does the nullity process begin?
To begin the process for a declaration of nullity of
marriage, a person should contact his or her parish priest.
The priest has copies of the initial form, termed "Request
for Tribunal Study". When this form has been completely
filled out, the priest will send it to the tribunal. Further
information will be sent to the priest by the tribunal. All
communication with the petitioner will be through the priest
or pastoral assistant who works with the petitioner. If a
person cannot contact the parish priest, the initial
approach can be made directly to the tribunal. Address
correspondence to:
Secretary to the Tribunal
Eparchy of Parma
1900 Carlton Rd.
Parma, OH 44134
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