ON the heels of Supreme Court decision modifying provisions of the Family Code, an official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday said they expect more couples to seek the annulment of their marriages.
In a phone interview, CBCP – Committee on Public Affairs Executive Secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said making psychological incapacity a legal concept, instead of a medical concept, “makes psychological incapacity in civil annulments less tedious to prove.”
“Add it to the fact that it makes such annulment process less expensive without couples paying for medical expert’s opinion to determine psychological incapacity,” he added.
Asked if he believes that it could lead to more marriages getting nullified, the priest answered in the affirmative. “If it becomes less tedious and less expensive, it’s possible,” said Secillano.
The CBCP official clarified that the declaration of the nullity of marriages of the Church is different from that of the civil government.
“The recent Supreme Court decision declaring psychological incapacity as a legal, and not a medical concept, will have no bearing in how the Church adjudicates cases determining the nullity of marriages,” said Secillano.
