January and the Rota
January is an extremely important time for canon lawyers. That is the month when the Holy Father gives a special address to the Roman Rota.
Every year in January, the Pope personally addresses the Auditors (Judges) of the Rota. Within minutes his address is translated into many languages for immediate international release.
The Roman Rota is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church. Right now there are twenty auditors working in the Rota. The Pope’s is a very formal affair. The auditors gather in their maroon robes and white collars and the annual picture of the gathering is quite impressive.
No one else is present for the address, not even reporters. There are no public or invited attendees. The gathering is for the current sitting auditors to hear the Holy Father in person, talk to the them about the work of the Rota. I would really like to be a fly on that wall.
The largest part of the Rota’s caseload is petitions asking for a granting of a Decree of Nullity of a marriage. So it is no surprise that in these annual addresses, the Holy Fathers will often speak about the sacrament of marriage. This year too marriage was the predominant topic. The content of the address released by the Vatican press office is six pages long. There is a part worth highlighting. Pope Francis explained that as a Church we should not prejudge anyone because they are separated or divorced.
Here in the United States there is really no stigma attached to that status. But we are a universal church and that is not the case in other places around the world. Out of the entire six pages of the address, this point and the way in which Pope Francis makes it, is the most important. Aside from the legalities that can make these addresses stodgy or boring (you can only say so much about marriage over the years) this point sticks out this year.
This address may not be the only time the Pope interacts with the Rota every year. An appeal from a Rotal sentence may be made to the Pope himself because he is the supreme ecclesiastical judge within this legal system.