Canonical Questions Regarding the Proposed Pastoral Care of the Faithful Who Are Divorced and Have Attempted Marriage

The author offers a canonical analysis of certain issues raised in theInstrumentum Laboris for the XIV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The presentation is centered around certain critical canonical questions raised by the recent work of the Synod of Bishops, in particular the canonical questions regarding the proposed pastoral care of the faithful who are divorced and have attempted marriage. The author recalls a number of essential elements of marriage, comments on the proposed administrative process for the declaration of nullity of marriage, underscores the relationship between doctrine and discipline, and also adds some reflections about the proposed penitential path.