Marriage Tribunal
Three Sisters of Charity have served in different roles in the Regional Tribunals of the Church in Sydney and Brisbane since the early years of the 1980's. One Sister has served as a judge, and the other two Sisters have filled the roles of auditors, defenders of the bond and advocate.
A Regional tribunal is part of the hierarchical structure of the Tribunal system of the universal Church. Its specific role is to assist the Archbishop in his archdiocese, who is by law the judge in the First Instance, to exercise his judicial power in accordance with the canons of the Code of Canon Law. A Tribunal is significant in the life of the archdiocese because it protects the rights of persons and institutions, and it makes judgements in controversial matters in which the Church has the right to judge.
The role of a judge as exercised by the Sister of Charity in the Tribunal is to hear and decide cases by engaging in jurisprudence, i.e., the science and art of utilising, interpreting and supplying for the Code of Canon Law by a judicial sentence. Jurisprudence is a dynamic and evolving science. In recent years there have been two major influences on the development of jurisprudence, the Second Vatican Council, and the behavioural sciences. The challenge for judges is to know the culture of their people and the society in which they live. Above all, a judge must have in mind moral certainty about the matter to be decided in the judgement. The judge must derive this certainty from the acts of the case and from the proofs submitted to the Tribunal.
This Sister of Charity, as a lay/religious person, who holds the position of judge, is in a new and evolving ministry in the Church, made possible only since the promulgation of the 1983 Code of Canon Law. At present the law circumscribes the role of a lay/religious person as judge. The lay/religious person cannot give a decision as a sole judge. She must judge with two other judges, who must be members of the clergy.
Sisters of Charity have also assisted the Tribunal in the roles of auditors, defenders of the bond and advocates. An auditor assists the judge in the instructing of the case. She gathers the evidence in accordance with the judge's commission and when gathered submits it to the judge. A defender of the bond is bound by law to present a brief that argues against a decision for the nullity of a marriage. An advocate is appointed by a party to the case to safeguard his or her rights by arguments submitted in writing regarding the law and the facts.
The auditor, defender of the bond and the advocate are appointed by the Bishop. Ideally those appointed to these roles would also have qualifications in canon law, but for the present, persons appointed to these roles are required to undertake a twelve-month course towards a Diploma in Tribunal Practice under the auspices of the Canon Law Society of Australia and new Zealand.
Matters other than matrimonial cases are also brought to the Tribunal by Church agencies, civil lawyers, religious institutes and other interested persons. The canonist responds to these matters with reference to the law. Matters are often highly sensitive or controversial requiring an appropriate degree of discretion and confidentiality.