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Church should broaden grounds for annulments - Fr Hillary Tagliaferro

Fr Hilary Tagliaferro has suggested in an interview to The Sunday Times that the Church needs to find ways to annul marriages which should never have been contracted.

"Life has changed and the reasons for an annulment today should be different from those the Church established 10 years ago,"he told Fiona Galea Debono.

Fr Hilary's assessment of marriage in Malta is not a bad one. Far more marriages work out than not, he said. His outlook towards relationships is positive, despite the fact that he considers them one of the "biggest headaches" today's ­society has to face.

"Many marriages that break up were never marriages in their own right in the first place, so I believe the Church must find ways and means of annulling what was never contracted."

Fr Hilary insisted that divorce is not the solution, he is calling for the grounds for annulments to be broadened. "Life has changed and the reasons for an annulment today should be different from those the Church established 10 years ago."

For example, the Church should take into consideration factors like stress, which can lead to depression. "These factors certainly have effects on relationships, but I doubt how much they are considered as grounds for annulment.

"When you delve into the reasons why relationships break down, you find that, from the onset, there was never any love, or good intentions to build something. I think that is reason enough to annul a marriage and enter into a new relationship," he insists.

"Unfortunately, the grounds to annul a marriage are still too tight and limited when the world and life in general have changed - even over the past five years, let alone 30! No wonder we have marriages breaking down after four decades.

"I know of many people who started a second relationship and were successful," he says in the belief that a solution needs to be found for those whose first attempt failed and whose situation he can understand. The Church is aware of this need to widen the grounds for annulments but change takes time and requires much reflection, he adds.

Lengthy as this process may be, Fr Hilary believes the "dynamic" Church, should make changes to suit people's needs. But the principles of the Second Vatican Council to adapt the Church to the modern world have not been applied fully since the 1960s, he continues. "The Church needs to read the signs of the times and adapt to the situation because morals and cultures change... The Church has to change with society."

Fr Hilary also touched on the issue of poverty, which came to fore in comments earlier this month by Caritas Director Mgr Victor Grech. Fr Hilary has no doubt problems of "survival" are on the increase.

"We have parents who do not send their children to school because they do not have a packed lunch for them. This is serious because it means young children are being deprived of an education. "The gap between people who are becoming richer and those getting poorer is growing," he maintains.

"The minimum we can do is provide hand-outs. But there are also situations where more education is needed, especially on how to manage money. Some parents would deprive their children of food and play the lottery instead. But we do not ask questions and we do not judge. We just see people suffering and we help."

See full interview in The Sunday Times

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ray sacco

Mar 30th 2010, 12:05

yeah! an annulment is not given capriciously and when the marriage is not consumed, you say! i'm not going into mechanics of this theological norm either, but just take a look at some cases of annulment and i'm sure you'll change your mind about the merits on which it's granted!

JJ Creg

Mar 28th 2010, 18:15

Well said. If I am right, in Islam there is annulment.

T Camilleri

Mar 28th 2010, 18:02

Wile you are right that the conditions for annulment must have existed at the moment of consent, infidelity by a spouse might indicate a prior intention to reject an essential element of marriage, namely the exclusivity of the other spouse. A refusal to procreate children which is one of the ends of marriage could also indicate another exclusion of an essential element of marriage. Fr Hilary is right in certain aspects, because certain marriages should never have been celebrated, such as one or both of the spouses being drug addicts and one or both being high when they were giving consent as has happened.

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 18:26

Love, more exactly, is the gift of God (and like all gifts, must be nurtured and protected).

Mark-Anthony Fenech

Mar 29th 2010, 12:23

and what do you suggest in its place?

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 14:17

Many people would beg to differ with you on that, Victor, most especially and including the ancient Egyptians.

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 13:41

Alex, for good reason, the ancient Eastern Orthodox iconographers never depicted the resurrection event itself, but rather the rising of Christ out of Hades. Payback time is no time at all. Welcome back, by the way!

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 13:48

Which Church were you referring to, Alex?

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 12:00

What Benedict XVI meant can only be understood in the context of what in reality constitutes the "act of marriage" (physical union). It is the celestial witness that seals a marriage (properly understood). Have you not heard of the sharp, double edged sword that can separate all things?

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 11:15

Fr. Hillary is right. The problem with reducing marriage to a civil union is that it does take into account the ontological realities of what marriage is. This is why the Church cannot accept the "dumbing down" of what is essentially a celestial union.

John Smith

Mar 28th 2010, 11:33

Fr. Hillary is speaking, as an ordinary citizen. Let him speak. Incidentally, in Eastern Orthodoxy, there are no marriage vows.

Adrian Cardona

Mar 28th 2010, 12:15

You are perfectly right Mr CC. I agree that the Church should never change. In fact I am disgusted by all these changes happening inside the Church lately. I don't see why the Pope should have admitted that the Earth might actually go around the sun. I disagree with the Church's acceptance of the fact that the Earth is actually round. I would have liked the Inquisition to remain and public executions to continue as an educational and entertaining family outing. I am utterly disappointed that the Pope actually admitted that it might have been a mistake to ignore and hide the sexual abuse of children by priests. I would love to see the Church continue to uphold its belief that it is preferable for people to die of AIDS rather than allowing contraception. Though I am encouraged to see that people like you and me, Mr CC, still exist, so there might still be hope after all that we can save the world from these poor misguided liberals.

JJ Creg

Mar 28th 2010, 19:42

Wake up! Cohabitation Law is on its way.

R Scicluna

Mar 28th 2010, 18:46

Granted...but what has your comment got to do with the above article dealing with marriage annulment??!!

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