''Dignitas connubii'' is an instruction issued by the

Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts The Dicastery for Legislative Texts, formerly named Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, is a dicastery of the Roman Curia. It is distinct from the highest tribunal or court in the Church, which is the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Sig ...

on 25 January 2005 on the discipline to be observed in diocesan and interdiocesan tribunals regarding causes of the nullity of

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

.''Dignitas connubii''
JGray.org, accessed 17 July 2019. It was compiled in close concert with

dicasteries A dicastery (from gr, δικαστήριον, dikastērion, law-court, from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') is the name of some departments of the Roman Curia. ''Pastor bonus'' ''Pastor bonus ''Pastor bonus'' (Latin: "The Good Shephe ...

that have a related competence, namely, the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of the Holy Office in Rome. It was founded to defend the Catholic Church from heresy and is the body responsible ...

, the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments it, Dicastero per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti , type = Dicastery , seal = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , seal_size = 100px , seal_caption = Coat of arms of the Holy See , logo = , p ...

, the

Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...

, and the Tribunal of the

Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota ( la, Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-r ...

.Dignitas Connubii
Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Malta, accessed 17 July 2019. It was partially obrogated by the

matrimonial nullity trial reforms of Pope Francis The matrimonial nullity trial reforms of Pope Francis are the reforms of Catholic canon law governing such trials, made public 8 September 2015. The reforms were effected by two separate apostolic letters from Pope Francis, the motu proprio '' Mit ...

in 2015, but remains in effect.

Purpose

According to Cardinal Julián Herranz, then-president of the

which issued the instruction, the purpose of ''Dignitas connubii'' was to give the ministers of justice (tribunal officers) a practical and convenient guide for handling tribunal work in matrimonial nullity processes. It was intended to serve the same purpose that a similar instruction, ''Provida Mater'', had in 1936 under the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

References

External links

''Dignitas connubii'' in English translation
Vatican.va.

JGray.org.

Vatican.va. {{Authority control Catholic matrimonial canon law Tribunals of the Catholic Church Catholic procedural canon law Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts Documents of the Roman Curia Annulment