Tribunal's Marriage Ministry
All persons have rights within the society of the Church. The Office of Tribunal/Canonical Affairs exists to vindicate these rights and to serve truth.
Jesus said, "What God has joined together, no one must separate." Catholics do not believe that a civil divorce decree ends a marriage; it merely terminates the legal effects of marriage. The Tribunal's ministry to separated and divorced persons is to uphold and preserve the integrity of the Sacrament of Matrimony.
Through a judicial process, the Tribunal is asked to determine whether the previous relationship enjoyed the kind of wholeness, integrity, soundness and health that the Church requires for marriage. Persons in a relationship which never rose to this level are free to marry in the Church.
Click on the title above to find answers to the most commonly asked questions about the marriage and the Tribunal process.
Tribunal Contact Information
Rt. Rev. Archimandrite Glen J. Pothier, JCL, DTh., PhD, Judical Vicar
Staff
Defender of the Bond/Promoter of Justice
Rev. Francisco Osorio, JCL
Judge
Very Reverend Albert A. Dello Russo, JCL
Director of the Tribunal
Deacon Sandi J. Martínez
Case Managers
Deacon Sandi J. Martínez
Alice Rivera
Deborah Duxbury
