Recepcja instrukcji procesowej Dignitas connubii w Polsce
Reception of the process instruction Dignitas connubii in Poland

Summary/Abstract: The process instruction Dignitas connubii was a document long anticipated by the employees of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Poland, all the more so that it had been announced by Pope John Paul II in his speech to Roma Rota. In addition, in those not so distant times, some employees of ecclesiastical courts in Poland still remembered previous process instruction Provida Mater (1936), alongside its great significance for ecclesiastical jurisdiction after Pio-Benedictine codification of 1917, thus, hopes and expectations related to the new process instruction were considerable. Today, ten years after the publication of Dignitas connubii, it is a special moment to discuss the question of canonical matrimonial process because we are between the meetings of the synod of bishops on the institution of marriage and family, and a commission for the study of reform of the canonical matrimonial process has been appointed. What is more, the fact has been also reported by mass media which, for obvious reasons, have taken particular interest in that issue. Of course, the above situation generates a lot of attention in the Church itself, for a number of reasons. Being aware that our role is not to create or modify the existing church procedural law but virtually to apply it accurately, it should be emphasized that instruction Dignitas connubii was accepted with due respect and obedience by the employees of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Poland, particularly because it was published in the last year of the pontificate of John Paul II and also on his initiative. Therefore, from the very beginning it was perceived as vademecum for the canonical matrimonial process as Pope Benedict XVI said about the instruction Dignitas connubii in His first speech to Roman Rota in 2006.Undoubtedly, today we should take care about indicating clearly that the matrimonial process is something exceptional in the Church; in the ecclesiastic community it should not be perceived as a standard but as an exceptional situation. It is an important mission of the Church now and a serious pastoral problem: how to protect the indissolubity of marriage, not only in the process but also in the doctrinal aspect? However, when it comes to the marriage process, we should ensure that it is right, transparent and just.

• Details
• Contents