The Ministry of Accompaniment: A Walk to Emmaus

“Let us keep walking together.” This is the call of the Holy Father, Pope Francis in articulating his ‘art of accompaniment’ — “to lead others ever closer to God, to accompany them as steady and reassuring, helping them experience the love of God even in their imperfections…because all are welcome and no one should feel unimportant and excluded” (Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia).

This statement of the Holy Father is specially addressed to our wounded families experiencing breakdown and divorce, and all of us are called to see them with the eyes of Christ, in the kind of care that confidence and hope must be restored (Pope Francis, Ex Audientia). For “no family drops down from heaven perfectly formed… but we may never lose heart because of our limitations, or even stop seeking the fulness of love and communion which God holds out before us” (Pope Francis, Amoris Laetitia).

Marriage enjoys the favour of the law (Can. 1060). Marriage, in God’s Divine Law, is designed to be an indissoluble union, grounded in fidelity and fruitfulness (Can. 1055) and its validity is upheld until the contrary is proven (Can. 1060). “It is of utmost importance to note that as to matrimonial nullity, it is never the role of the Church to annul marriages, but only to declare whether a marriage that was ritually celebrated at certain point was or was not a valid sacramental union according to the standards set by the Church.” (dela Victoria, J. Junar, A Step-by-Step Guide to the New Marriage Nullity Procedures, p. 17).

While marriage nullity as a time-held process causes distress and strain on the parties, the Holy Pontiff stressed the need to make it readily accessible especially to the poor; hence, procedural reforms are at work. One significant item he pointed out is the importance of pre-trial services of information, and counseling and mediation that may be offered by the family apostolate in the dioceses and parishes, again in the light of pastoral care and accompaniment. It is significantly emphasized and contained in the new marriage nullity procedures known as MIDI or Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus to simplify, above all things, the procedural norms on marriage nullity. (Relatio Synodi 2014).

THE MLC: A PASTORING VEHICLE

Training lay leaders who can assist in the therapy and counseling in the pre-trial is confronting the situation of marriages in crisis in a pastoral perspective. MLC or Marriage Law of the Church as a course will serve as a potent ground for training and formation to achieve that end. The course which is designed to form Pre-judicial Marriage Counsellors, run by the Asian Institute for Marriage and Family, would eventually help address the challenge posed under the new procedural norms on matrimonial nullity (MIDI). MLC which is an online course is now offered in Mindanao. It begins on July 3 and ends on August 14 on Saturday afternoons only. Among the topics of the course include:

• The Nature of Marriage
• The Causes of Canonical Nullity of Marriage
• The Legal Incapacity for Marriage
• The Psychological Anomalies Affecting Marital Consent
• The Role of Pre-judicial Marriage Counsellors and many more topics to be competently handled by a canon lawyer priest, a medical doctor in the field of Psychology and a practicing lawyer.

Under a canonical legal perspective, the purpose of the marriage nullity process is to determine whether or not the legal presumption in favor of the validity of a marriage can be overturned (Can. 1060). It means that either the nullity of marriage has been established with moral certainty or not. Under the pastoral perspective, the tribunal is involved in the ministry that is essentially a work of justice through the “administration of justice”; that Canon Law must always be considered in its essential relationship with justice… “that the goal of juridical activity is the salvation of souls and that it constitutes a special participation in the mission of Christ the Shepherd.” (Pope Benedict XVI)

WHY EMMAUS: A Reflection

Accompaniment is witnessing Christ’s walk to Emmaus alongside two disciples who carry with them the burdens of fear, of guilt, of great sense of loss. Like Jesus walking with the two disciples telling stories, to walk with the lost and the wounded is to accompany them with our ears to carefully listen to their stories; and finally, like the disciples who recognized Jesus in the “breaking and sharing of the bread”, may those whom we walk with recognize again in renewed faith the Risen Christ in us in our self-emptying in order to share and offer them our accompanying presence. (Cynthia Chu)

Reference:
A Step-by-Step Guide to the New Marriage Nullity Procedures
Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus
A book by Jose Junar N. dela Victoria, JCD