Any society, and the Church is no exception, needs an appropriate instrument for the resolution of disputes and authoritative declarations of facts concerning matters which are juridically doubtful. This has been accomplished over time by the use of various methods such as arbitration, mediation and court procedures in tribunals. In the course of the evolution of our present procedures, there arose a new understanding of the office and the role of the judge who was called to preside over particular cases. What is the role or function of this president in trials and in matrimonial trials in particular? What are the responsibilities of the presiding judge? What qualities and qualifications are necessary to be appointed as a judge and as a presiding judge? Who can be a presiding judge? How is this ministry changing and evolving even now? These questions formed the basis of investigation for this dissertation. Previous studies had examined tribunals, procedural law and the various responsibilities of judges, but nothing specific was done on the presiding judge who is perceived as representing in a visible manner the judicial role and ministry of the Church. Since the focus of the work was the presiding judge, several significant and related topics were not dealt with, such as: the substantive law concerning marriage, its indissolubility or sacramentality; the jurisprudence used in marriage trials, its development and evolution. However, although mention was made in passing of some non-formal procedures for dealing with questions of nullity and dissolution of marriage, the function of the presiding judge in such cases was not explored. Chapter I examined the development of the concept of presidency in the resolution of conflict within the Church. Chapter II examined the role and responsibilities of the presiding judge. Some of these are shared with all judges, while others are unique to the praeses. Chapter III examined the qualities and qualifications required of presiding judges. An examination of the changes that occur when the function of praeses is fulfilled by bishops, judicial vicars, other clerics and even the laity was explored. Chapter IV presented an evaluation of the present procedural law which binds judges, especially the presiding judge, in marriage nullity cases. The ministry of the presiding judge is one of trust, since he is the person these injured, angry and often times misinformed persons must trust to guide them through yet another painful experience.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/9988 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Bourgon, Robert O. |
| Contributors | Morrisey, F. G., |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 270 p. |
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