Pope Leo XIV marks 10 years of Francis’ marriage nullity reform, insisting truth, justice, and mercy remain inseparable for the salvation of souls.
Newsroom (21/11/2025 Gaudium Press) On the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark reform of the canonical marriage nullity process, Pope Leo XIV told participants in a Roman Rota training course that truth, justice, and mercy must never be separated in handling declarations of nullity, and that the ultimate aim of every case must remain the salvation of souls.
Addressing the Juridical-Pastoral Training Course organized by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota, the Pope took as his “guiding thread” the 2015 motu proprio Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus, in which his predecessor streamlined procedures while insisting on safeguarding the indissolubility of marriage.
Pope Leo warned against treating the ecclesiological, juridical, and pastoral dimensions of nullity cases as “separate compartments” — a tendency, he said, that falsely pits one against the others. Such an approach, he argued, obscures their essential harmony and reduces the judicial process to either a mere technicality for specialists or a quick route to personal freedom.
The Pope identified two foundational ecclesiological realities. First, the sacred authority exercised in Church tribunals is a form of pastoral service — what Vatican II called the diakonia of truth. Declaring the truth about a putative marriage, he stressed, is not an administrative detail but an aspect of “existential truth within the Church,” enabling individuals and communities to walk the path of faith and charity.
Second, the object of every nullity case is the “mystery of the conjugal covenant” — the possible presence or absence of the una caro (“one flesh”) bond that endures for life. Tribunals, therefore, have the grave duty to protect “to the highest degree the truth of the sacred bond,” as Pope Francis wrote in the 2015 reform’s preface.
“Human judgment regarding marital nullity must not be distorted by false mercy,” Pope Leo cautioned, adding that any action contradicting the service of truth “must be considered unjust.” At the same time, authentic mercy is expressed precisely through the diligent, accessible, and prompt processes introduced by the reform — never at the expense of truth.
While encouraging mediation and conciliation wherever possible, the Pope insisted that judicial proceedings remain necessary in many cases and must not be viewed as “a cumbersome accumulation of procedural requirements” but as genuine instruments of justice.
When ecclesiological and juridical dimensions are lived authentically, he concluded, the pastoral dimension naturally emerges. Ecclesiastical tribunals and pastoral workers, he said, form complementary parts of the same mission: promoting the good of families, especially those experiencing difficulty.
Reaffirming the ancient principle salus animarum suprema lex (“the salvation of souls is the supreme law”), Pope Leo XIV declared this to be the ultimate horizon of every marriage nullity process in the Church.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News
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