From the point of view of the law of the Catholic Church, divorce in the strict sense does not exist, and the marriage concluded is indissoluble. However, it is possible to have it invalidated. And as the report of the Statistical Institute of the Catholic Church and the Pokolenie Institute shows, in recent years more and more people have decided to take such a step.
More and more church divorces in Poland
As we learn from the above-mentioned report, every fourth judgment in 2020 to declare marriage invalid in the Church in Europe was issued in our country. In addition, “the number of declarations of marriage invalidity in the Church in Poland since 1989 has increased by over 160% compared to 2020 and amounted to 2,813.”
What is the reason for this increase? Church lawyer Michał Poczmański from the Canonical Office in Warsaw distinguishes three main causes of the phenomenon. – First of all, relationships fall apart faster these days. Secondly, people are more aware of this issue than a few or a dozen years ago. And thirdly, the process of declaring the invalidity of a marriage in the Church was significantly simplified a few years ago – explains the expert.
The lawyer reminds that in 2015, Pope Francis introduced a major reform, thanks to which there is only one instance in force during a marriage invalidity trial. Previously there were two instances. Thanks to this, the entire procedure often takes only 2-3 years, instead of 5-6 as before. – We can therefore say that Pope Francis, by introducing single-instance law, encouraged people to regulate their legal situation in the Church – says Dr. Poczmański.
“If Kurski got an annulment, why shouldn’t we succeed?”
Moreover, in recent years, cases of famous people who managed to obtain such annulments have often been publicized in the media. One of the most famous cases is of course Jacek Kurski, who, after 24 years of marriage to his wife, with whom he had three children, annulled his marriage and took another church wedding. – All this makes people willing to choose this solution. They often think: If Kurski got his divorce annulled, why shouldn’t we succeed? – comments Michał Poczmański.
Our interlocutor, referring to the famous case of the politician, also draws attention to a certain detail. – Many people think that if the marriage has children, a church declaration of nullity of the marriage is not possible at all. This is of course a misconception. Most of my clients have children, he notes.
*Dr. Michał Poczmański – church lawyer, expert in the field of declaring the invalidity of marriage from the Canonical Office.
Source: Gazeta
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