STATE AND ACTIVITY OF THE METROPOLITAN TRIBUNAL OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER 2016

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1 STATE AND ACTIVITY OF THE METROPOLITAN TRIBUNAL OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER 2016 Review the Statistics and casework of the Metropolitan Tribunal for 2016 including how many and what type of requests were made and times for adjudication and other Statistics.

2 METROPOLITAN TRIBUNAL ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER 2016 ANNUAL REPORT

3 SALUS ANIMARUM SUPREMA LEX The Metropolitan Tribunal is the vicariate established by Canon Law as the judicial arm of the Archbishop s Government of the Archdiocese. As such, it is the court system of the Church and the canonical forum for the resolution of legal questionsarisingfrom the activityof the Church and of the Faithful. The Metropolitan Tribunal houses the first Instance Court of Denver, as well as the appeals court for the province, which includes the dioceses of Cheyenne, Pueblo and Colorado Springs. By delegation, the tribunal also handles all matters of permissions and dispensations pertaining to marriage. The Office of Canonical Affairs advises the archbishop, his staff and clergy on all other matters pertaining to Canon Law, including but not limited to clergy issues, sacramental law, temporal goods, and penal law. The mission of the Metropolitan Tribunal and Office of Canonical Affairs of the Archdiocese of Denver is to safeguard the rights of individuals and the common good and to seek truth and justice in all judicial matters to uphold the supreme law of the Church, the salvation of souls.

4 ADJUDICATION OF CASES The Tribunal continues to reduce the number of Formal cases in the backlog that were introduced before 2015 by from 164 to 38. The number of new cases introduced this year was 188 and we concluded 228 cases. We continue to strive to complete more cases than the number introduced and thus continuously reducing the backlog. It is our objective, as directed by the Holy Father, with the implementation of the changes brought about by the Motu Proprio to adjudicate new cases within a year. (Currently for cases accepted since 2015 the average time to adjudication is 1 year and 1 month.) As you can see in the charts provided the time to adjudicate cases is being reduced. [See chart below]. This year the number of cases adjudicated under 1 year increased by 600% from 5 cases last year to 35 cases this year. We have now fully implemented the Abbreviated Ordinary Process as put forth by the Holy Father in the Motu Proprio. We adjudicated 2 cases in the new Abbreviated Ordinary Process in 4 months.

5 CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR ADVOCATES In 2016, we presented two Continuing Education workshops specifically on determining grounds and the presentation of the Libellus. These presentations are available on the website. We also have the On-Line Training Program for the certification of Advocates, and continue to certify new Advocates especially lay staff, to help to lessen the load of the Priests and Deacons. The Tribunal Quarterly is in its second year of publication and we have discussed topics such as the impediment of Ligamen, the Processus Brevior, the Libellus, Moral Certitude, The Relationship Between Faith and the Validity of the Natural Marriage, changes in the judicial procedures, changes to the Code concerning the harmonization between Latin and Eastern Rites and common law marriage. Each issue also provides an employee profile. We continue to use the web-site to provide up-to-date forms and information to our Advocates. We also added the Determine Case Type module to the website as well as links to proper paperwork for each case type. Our current statistics are as follows: 2016 Requests Preliminary Questionnaires 605 Dispensations 465 Marriage Files / Visum 183 Rogatories 7 Sanations 8 Other Dioceses - Review of Acts 3 Total 1271 Our staff sent out 605 packets for Declarations of Nullity Requests, reviewed 465 requests for permissions and dispensations and 183 marriage files as well as conducting rogatories and reviews of the acts for other dioceses and processing Radical Sanations.

6 The 605 Preliminary Questionnaires can be broken down as follows: Preliminary Questionnaires Lack of Form 237 Formal 337 Abbreviated 3 Ligamen 1 Pauline 6 Petrine 3 Undetermined 18 Total 605 We received 188 libellus and accepted 188 new cases. The processing time is decreasing especially in the areas where the Pope has made changes through the Muto Proprio. Below are the average times that our cases take in different phases of the process.

7 Below are several snapshots from the web page with the new and current resources. We also hope to be able to add a search tool for the advocates to check case status in the near future.

8 THE PRELIMINARY QUESTIONNAIRE Is the Preliminary Questionnaire still required? Learn why the Preliminary Questionnaire is still very important and when there are exceptions to using the PQ.

9 THE PRELIMINARY QUESTIONNAIRE Some of our advocates are wondering if the Preliminary Questionnaire (PQ) is still needed since they have access to the other paperwork required on the Tribunal Website. The answer is yes, except on the condition that you have ascertained that the case is a Lack of Form. The preliminary questionnaire (PQ) is not only a tool to determine case type, but is also very useful to our Tribunal staff and particularly our judges for the specific information that is exclusively provided on it. It allows for a quick review of religion, common life, marriage and divorce dates and the Marital Histories section. Many of our cases involve multiple marriages and the Marital Histories section is very important to the cases. While working the on the case file, the staff frequently refers to the PQ to verify facts and dates. It is important that this form is completely and carefully completed so that the case can move forward in the proper manner from the outset. There are several ways to use the PQ: 1. At the first meeting with the Petitioner, to get all the details Complete it carefully and send it in with the filing fee of $25. We usually review and send out the proper paperwork on the same day. It will then be assigned a protocol number in our system. We can then look it up and track any progress. 2. If you have already confirmed the case type and have all the necessary paperwork, you may send that in with the PQ and filing fee. It will then go directly to the Judge to review and set the grounds. 3. If you have confirmed that your case is indeed a Lack of Form, you may download the Lack of Form Form and complete it in its entirety and send it in with all the necessary certified documents and the processing fee of $50 and no PQ is necessary in this circumstance only. If you have any additional questions regarding the preliminary questionnaire, please contact our office at

10 MEET OUR NEW CASE PROCESSOR Mr. Peter Waymel holds a Master s Degree in Sacred Scripture from the Augustine Institute and a Licentiate in Philosophy from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, where he lived for eight years. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Philosophy from that same university and has relocated back to his native Colorado in 2015, where he now lives with his wife and six children. He has taught religion and English and worked as a translator. He also actively catechizes in several parishes in the Denver and Colorado Springs dioceses. Case Processor: Under the direction of one of the Judges (the Ponens), the Case Processor is a Notary who coordinates the initial phase of the marriage nullity process. He verifies the completeness of marriage nullity petitions and is responsible for drafting and authenticating the required documents, especially, pertaining to the citation of the parties and the collection of witness testimony. In addition, he coordinates Pauline Privilege and Privilege of the Faith cases.

11 Quote MARRIAGE IS A JOURNEY OF FAITH "Those who celebrate the sacrament say, I promise to be true to you, in joy and in sadness, in sickness and in health; I will love you and honour you all the days of my life. At that moment, the couple does not know what will happen, nor what joys and pains await them. They are setting out, like Abraham, on a journey together. And that is what marriage is! Setting out and walking together, hand in hand, putting yourselves in the Lord s powerful hands. Hand in hand, always and for the rest of your lives. And do not pay attention to this makeshift culture, which can shatter our lives. POPE FRANCIS (from Pope Francis Inspiring Address to Families)