Cd. Szoka's work
continues to help Detroit Tribunal
Michelle Zotter of The Michigan Catholic
Published June 4, 2004
When then-Archbishop Edmund C. Szoka came to Detroit in 1981, he wasted no time in making the pastoral importance of the Metropolitan Tribunal one of his priorities.
And though he is several thousand miles away in Rome, his support of the Tribunal continues today.
Most people identify the Tribunal with the processing of petitions for the annulment of marriages; however, other judicial matters are also handled at the archbishop's request.
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| Cardinal Edmund C. Szoka celebrates a wedding Mass at St. Florian Church, Hamtramck, in 1990. Because of Cardinal Szoka's reform of the Tribunal, there are no fees for annulments, the Church process which allows Catholics to remarry within the Church. | In the early 1980s, the Tribunal was understaffed and the resolution of formal cases was taking five years, Cardinal Szoka said from Rome. More than 20 years later, as a result of his efforts, annulments now only take anywhere between eight months to a year.
"It was a situation which had to be corrected and which I did very quickly," Cardinal Szoka recalled. "We renovated one entire floor of the Gabriel Richard Building to house the Tribunal. We put in the latest computer systems and began sending many priests to universities to obtain degrees in canon law."
By the mid-1980s, "we were functioning very smoothly and efficiently," he said. Much of the relief came from Cardinal Szoka's request for priests to assist one day a week—35 volunteered.
Fr. George Miller, judicial vicar of the Tribunal, said that, at the time, the department was "sorely understaffed especially in regard to trained canonists. Almost immediately upon installation as archbishop, he took a very active interest in the Tribunal."
"As far as I know, we were the first Tribunal in the country to get into the computerization of the whole process. In fact, there were no computer programs available at that time, so we had to build the whole thing from scratch," he added.
Before Cardinal Szoka became archbishop, a $300 donation was requested from those going through annulments, said Andrew Pinto, Tribunal administrator. However, Cardinal Szoka decided the money instead would come from the Catholic Services Appeal. The cost today to process an annulment is about $600, but no fee is charged.
"It was because of the sensitivity and of the importance of annulments that he determined the money should not impact on a person's ability to get an annulment," Pinto said.
Fr. Miller agreed. "We were one of the first ones to do away with fees, and I think there's been some movement of other Tribunals across the country to do away with direct fees …"
"A Tribunal has never made money," Fr. Miller continued. "It's a losing proposition when it comes to money and so back when we asked for a contribution, it was a donation and had nothing to do with the speed of a case or its outcome. It was a request we made to help defray the expense."
Fr. Miller stressed that Cardinal Szoka always held the Tribunal in high regard. "I remember on at least one occasion when he invited us to a formal dinner at his house to thank us for the work we do.
"He'd often speak to us about the pastoral importance of the Tribunal work. He saw the Tribunal as enabling people who had gotten themselves into difficult situations regarding their marital status and to be able to resolve that and to be able to live their life fully within the sacramental union with the Church."
Judith McManus, court expert, agreed, and said it was through Cardinal Szoka's ministry that "he knew the pain of divorce," thereby emphasizing the pastoral importance of the Tribunal.
Cardinal Szoka has no problem letting others know what he thinks of the Tribunal. At bishops' meetings, Fr. Miller recalled, "Cardinal Szoka would stand up and without hesitation, defend the process. In fact, I remember him saying in front of most of the cardinals and the pope, if they wanted to see how it's done, then come to Detroit!"
The cardinal remains proud of the Tribunal. "He's had archbishops and cardinals from other places invited over to the Tribunal to show them our court and to meet the Tribunal staff, because this is something Cardinal Szoka is very proud of," Fr. Miller said.
Looking at the human aspect in a marriage is also a factor as to why more annulments are granted, as opposed to looking at only the external requirements, said Fr. Miller. "Today with the advancement of psychology and other human sciences, we delve much more deeply into the issue of where parties are at the time of consent in life.
"It's not necessarily a moral judgment. It means at that point in their lives, there were issues that kept people from being prepared to make a life decision, which is often the basis for many of our cases. We're looking at the total person and not just a few simple facts of the actual marriage."
Cardinal Szoka said he hopes the important work of the Tribunal will continue: "Of course, it has been a great source of hope to divorced Catholics who now know about the possibility of getting an annulment if warranted," the cardinal said. "It also has helped to give the Church a more sensitive and humane image."
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