In 2020 the International Theological Commission published an important document: The Reciprocity Between Faith and Sacraments in the Sacramental Economy. The document is a presentation of six years of expert work on exploring the relationship between faith and the sacraments. The original theological justification, offered here, of the specific role of faith in the validity and fruitfulness of each sacrament culminates, in some ways, in a focus on an ecclesiastically sensitive “area” (Ecclesia domestica) — which is already foreshadowed by the initial declarations under the “emphatic” subtitle: Faith and the Sacraments: A Reciprocity in Crisis. What is addressed here is a serious scholarly proposal for further reintegration of the doctrine of de sacramento matrimonii, with a nodal understanding of the issue of the sacramental dignity of marriage — a study strongly awaited since it is set in the context of the two memorable assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, of 2014 and 2015.
Adopting the hypothesis of justifiability of the title demarcation line (2015—), marking the “post-synodal era,” bestowed upon the author of this study — consequently — a need to comprehensively examine how the International Theological Commission implemented in concreto the synodal appeals of bishops in 2014 — the first appeal (from Instrumentum laboris of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops): “there is a need to deepen the question of the relationship between faith and the Sacrament of Matrimony”; and a later appeal (from Relatio Synodi of the Third Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops): “it is necessary to consider the possibility of giving importance to the faith of the nupturients in ascertaining the validity of the Sacrament of Marriage, all the while maintaining that the marriage of two baptized Christians is always a sacrament.” In the concluding remarks the author answers the question that preoccupies the canonist: Can it be assumed that the result of the Commission’s six-year long work is — important for the canonical doctrine and, above all, helpful for the consistent jurisprudence — a clarification of the questio dubia: “baptized non-believers” and the sacrament of marriage?

The article aims to summarize the situation in the church justice system in two aspects. From the distance of several years, it briefly evaluates the application of the norms of the 2015 reform of the matrimonial procedural law of the Catholic Church (the dramatic increase in the number of cases after the reform, the stabilization of the situation after the first years, the low use of the possibility of abbreviated proceedings, etc.). It assesses the impact of the imposed limitations (and people’s worries) in the Czech society during the COVID-19 epidemic on the activity of church tribunals and the search for alternative ways of processing cases (using the example of the Interdiocesan Tribunal in Olomouc).

The article presents a critical examination of the abbreviated process before the bishop and ecclesiastical divorce in the Orthodox Churches. The basic point of departure for the analysis is the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris laetitia promulgated by Pope Francis. Article 244 in the subsection entitled “Accompaniment after breakdown and divorce” explains Pope Francis’ motivation behind the modifications to the briefer process before the bishop in line with his Apostolic Letter motu proprio Mitis et misericors Iesus. Using a combined method of analysis, synthesis and comparison, the article aims to present a comprehensive theological and judicial view on the abbreviated matrimonial process before the bishop and on the practice of the Orthodox Churches in the process of ecclesiastical divorce. The textual analysis
revealed that the primary reason for the modifications was the length of the process as it posed considerable difficulties and exhausted the parties involved. Pope Francis’ recent documents on the subject have resulted in simplification of the procedures eventually granting the declaration of nullity of marriage. These documents have highlighted a very important component of the Second Vatican Council’s teaching that
the bishop himself, in his local church over which he has been appointed shepherd and head, is at the same time a judge of the faithful entrusted to him. The article also emphasizes that bishops do not delegate the said ministry entrusted to them to other structures within their eparchies but exercise their ministry personally for the salvation of immortal souls.

The study of the condition of marriage and family is an essential task of science. This is because the results of this research can be of great importance for the direction and shape of actions taken by secular and Church authorities to protect and for the development of society. This article presents the results of research on contemporary marriage and family in Poland. This research uses an innovative method of obtaining data on marriages as a result of quantitative and qualitative surveys conducted among people who have decided to obtain a declaration of nullity of their marriage in the Catholic Church.

Cultural and social changes may affect the methodology adopted by the courts at a certain time in interpreting and applying the law, in particular provisions containing general clauses. These clauses make the law more flexible, enabling it to adapt to changing conditions. They are treated as a kind of “safety valve” to avoid solutions that are unjust, or ethically and morally unacceptable in society. From this perspective, this article will consider the significance of the general clause of the principles of social coexistence in adjudicating a divorce from the perspective of Polish law. The purpose of this article is to answer the question whether, and in what direction, the cultural and social changes that may be taken into account through the general clause of Article 56 of the Family and Guardianship Code affect the dissolution of a marriage by divorce, namely whether or not they hinder the pronouncement of a divorce where the other prerequisites for divorce are met.

Both in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 16) and in the European Convention on Human Rights (Art. 12), the right to marriage is perceived and defined as a fundamental human right, as it was in fact enounced both by jus divinum and by jus naturale. Among other things, from the texts of the legal instruments, of prime importance to the nations of the world, one can note that a marriage can be concluded only between a man and a woman, and only if the following indispensable conditions are met, namely: a) the marriageable age laid down in the national law; b) the mutual consent of the future spouses; c) that the race, nationality or religion of the future spouses are not taken into account. Therefore, a valid marriage is concluded only by the persons of different sex (man and woman), and not by the people of any sex, as the Treaty of Nice (2000) stipulated. In the article, we also highlighted the fact that the right of a man and a woman to have a family is ontologically bound with the marriage. This reality proves in fact, once
more, that the marriage and the family were and remain “two main institutions of the mankind.”

Review of book: „Církevní právo, 2. přepracované a doplněné vydání“ [Church Law, 2^nd revised and completed edition], Jiří Rajmund Tretera and Záboj Horák, Praha: Leges, 2021, 2. ed. 440 pp. ISBN 978-80-7502-535-7 presents an important work by two authors, dealing with church law in general and specifically in the Czech Republic, which forms the basic corpus of textbooks together with two other publications by the same authors, which are discussed in the review. It introduces readers to the method, content and significance of this publication.

Review

Review