S.O.S. | Reform of Annulment & Respondent Support Network

S.O.S. (Save Our Sacrament) | RoA&RS is both a support and a reform network inspired by Sheila Rauch Kennedy. Her book is Shattered Faith: A Woman's Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annulling Her Marriage

Welcome to Save Our Sacrament: Reform of Annulment & Respondent Support
If you are a Respondent in an annulment case, we can help.

I. Mission Statement: to support, advise, and educate Respondents who are facing/ involved in the annulment process.

II. Goals of SOS/RoARS:
1. to empower Respondents to save their sacrament,
2. to motivate Respondents to be steadfast and empowered as model for their children, and
3. to encourage Respondents to remain true to their informed conscience and beliefs.

III. Integral to these goals are:
1. the validity of the marriage sacrament,
2. the dignity of the individual, and
3. the sanctity of each child.

IV. What we do: SOS encompasses a world-wide community of Respondents.
By sharing our collective stories we encourage one another to transform the adversarial process of annulment into an experience of self-empowerment.

SOS has worked with almost 700 Respondents. For many Respondents, annulment is as injurious if not worse than the impact of divorce.
Through our SOS website we offer help and motivation to Respondents, who are new to the annulment process, to courageously shine the light of their truth on the impact and process of annulment, as they hold to their spiritual beliefs and values.

V. The Impact on Children: In hundreds of annulment cases, children have been terribly affected by both the process and the result on their Respondent parent.
Too often the 'legacy' of annulment on these children is:
a. choosing not to remain a member of the Church, and
b. dismissing the value of a church marriage.

We believe that for ourselves and especially our children, the abusive and invasive process of annulment (the “external forum”) must be stopped.

VI. There are alternatives to the 'external forum' of annulment (i.e. that which is done via the Tribunal system).
These alternatives are:
1) the Internal Forum process, and
2. “A second marriage can be “valid but not sacramental”.

Support Goals

• Provide advice and education to Respondents who are opposing the annulment Petition
• Work with Respondents on their Appeal to the Vatican Roman Rota
• Support Children of Annulled Marriages
• Yearly gathering of Respondents willing to work on developing empowering ways of dealing effectively with the annulment process
  

Reform Goals

• Raise public awareness to the hypocrisy permeating the annulment process
• Raise public awareness that marriages of faithful Protestants are being "annulled" by Catholic tribunals
• Educate regarding the need to abolish annulments, and substitute the Internal Forum process
• Expose the bias against Respondents by Tribunal personnel
• Work on civil litigation against Tribunal-employed mental health professionals

Catholics are taught that marriage is a sacrament; this is an essential belief of their Catholic faith.

"The American Catholic Church annually grants over 60,000 annulments, three-quarters of the total granted throughout the world. In roughly 90% of all cases that come before the American Church councils, or tribunals, officials rule that 'in the eyes of God the [sacramental] marriage never truly existed.' As more than one observer of religion has noted, 'The United States has become the Nevada of the annulment world.' Another expert in canon law boasted, 'There isn't a marriage in America that we can't annul.'"(Sheila Rauch Kennedy, Shattered Faith, p. 12) In Italy, by comparison, only 37% of requests for annulment are granted.

"Annulment is now a form of divorce in every way but name, and the church [hierarchy] refusal to acknowledge this is deeply corrupting. Moreover, the Catholic annulment procedures hurt children, are cruel to former spouses, force applicants to misrepresent the past, mock well-meaning priests, and drive many thousands out of the church. It is a disaster."
- James Carroll, (pub. 2001) Boston Globe, May 13, 1997