“In my Addresses to this Apostolic Tribunal in 2006 and 2007, I stressed that it is possible to arrive at the truth on the essence of marriage and the reality of every personal situation that is submitted to the jurisdiction of this tribunal, and also the truth of matrimonial processes. Today I wish to emphasize that both justice and charity postulate love for truth and essentially entail searching for truth. In particular, charity makes the reference to truth even more exacting. "To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity. Charity, in fact, "rejoices in the truth' (1 Cor 13: 6)" (Caritas in veritate, 1). "Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived.... Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love. It falls prey to contingent subjective emotions and opinions, the word "love' is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite" (ibid., n. 3)”.

Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Rota, 29 January 2010

“It must be stated that the observation which Provida Mater made is still valid today and is even more urgent now than when that Instruction was issued, namely, “However it must be observed that such rules will be insufficient to achieve their stated purpose unless diocesan judges know the sacred canons thoroughly and are well prepared through an experience of tribunal work’’. For this reason it falls to the Bishops, and this should weigh heavily on their consciences, to see to it that suitable ministers of justice for their tribunals are trained in canon law appropriately and in a timely manner, and are prepared by suitable practice to instruct causes of marriage properly and decide them correctly.”

Instruction Dignitas connubii, proemio

The main objective of this course is to introduce the participants to doctrinal and jurisprudential advancements regarding the process of the declaration of nullity of marriage as well as the more problematic grounds of nullity.

As has been the case in previous courses, the approach will be theoretical and practical. We shall examine recent doctrine and jurisprudence, and discuss case studies.

The presentations on the theoretical aspects shall be in Italian. Simultaneous translation to English, Spanish and French will, however, be available.

To facilitate discussion, the group work sessions on case studies will be organized according to languages: Italian, English, Spanish and French. The cases shall be sent to participants two months before the course begins to allow for previous preparation.