In the ecclesiastical courts (recently) we have seen an increase in the number of divorces. At first sight, the pastoral ministry often seems to interpret this phenomenon as a ,crisis of faith‘ of the married. Canon law, however, notes that it is often the annulments that are signs of the ,awakened faith‘ of suffering spouses who have suffered a divorce. Marriage annulment lawsuits are often full of faith that all is not lost. Even a study of annulment lawsuits in the ecclesiastical court in Maribor (2010‒2020) shows that for many spouses, church marriages were not contracted in order to preserve Christian tradition and that the marriage was not just something accidental. We find that many spouses sincerely wanted to make a good marriage, but experienced a marital ,shipwreck‘ (divorce). However, the nullity lawsuit has reawakened in many a trace of ,faith in God‘ (in the sense of the word believe), supported by God‘s grace, so that at least the second time (or the first time, after the nullity judgment) they will be able to enter into a true marriage, in the sense of total consecration and marital fidelity.
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