Pope Warns Against Quick Annulments on Mental Grounds
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VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II warned today against granting marriage annulments too readily on psychiatric grounds.
He told members of the Sacred Roman Rota, the appeal body which judges difficult annulment cases, that “psychological incapacity has become the reason given for a large number of annulment rulings, especially in certain countries.”
He said the dedication of psychologists and psychiatrists was praiseworthy and useful but should not be allowed to obscure the issues for church annulment judges.
An annulment in the Roman Catholic Church, which does not permit divorce, is a ruling that a marriage never existed because it lacked proper conditions, such as full consent of both parties.
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