Review

A Recipe for Disillusionment

It took a non-Catholic divorcée to focus attention on the flaws in the annulment process.

Shattered Faith: A Woman's Struggle to Stop the Catholic Church from Annulling Her Marriage, Sheila Rauch Kennedy, Pantheon, 1997

The author objects to what she sees as the prevailing lack of intellectual honesty in a system which resorts to legal sleight-of-hand in order to accommodate virtually anyone.

Although one cannot use the standards of the world to measure the state of Christ's Church, nonetheless the external signs are not encouraging. Between 1860 and 1960 the percentage of Catholics in the population of the United States grew steadily. But then between 1976 and 1996, the figures in the Official Catholic Directory show a decline, from 23.16 percent to 22.42 percent. During that same period, while the total number of Catholics in the United States increased by 18.9 percent, the number of infant baptisms increased by only 13 percent. In other aspects of Catholic life, there have been some more startling decreases. During the same 20 year period, 1976 to 1996, the number of American priests declined by 16.7 percent; the number of seminarians plummeted by 73.5 percent; and the number of students in Catholic secondary and elementary schools fell by 23.1 percent.

Statistics about the state of Catholic families in America are still more disturbing. The past twenty years have seen the number of Catholic marriages fall by 17.9 percent, from 369,133 to 302,919. Still more ominous, about 40 percent of such unions--like a similar percentage of non-Catholic marriages, wind up in the divorce courts. Thus of the 6.5 to 7 million Catholic couples who married during that period, we can assume that somewhere between 2.5 and 3 million have already separated or will separate in the near future. Can we expect these broken families to produce and form the children who will themselves one day replenish the depleted ranks of clergy and religious, or enter into strong, stable marriages of their own?

A more immediate question concerns the status of individuals who were partners in shattered Catholic marriages. A civil divorce may settle matters such as the division of property, alimony payments, and custody of the children. But in the eyes of the Church the sacramental union remains, and cannot be dissolved by anything save death. Thus neither party can enter into a sacramental marriage with someone else--unless, that is, the first marriage is scrutinized by a Church tribunal and declared to be null. With millions of people hoping for such declarations of nullity--commonly called annulments--Church tribunals are busy places.

The marriage that was to become the subject of Shattered Faith took place on February 3, 1979. The author, Sheila Rauch Kennedy, was the bride. The groom was Joseph P. Kennedy II, a member of the most prominent family in American politics--nephew of former President John F. Kennedy and son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. But those who buy the book expecting juicy gossip about Kennedy intrigues and indiscretions will be disappointed. Shattered Faith is concerned with far more significant issues.

At first, the marriage of Joe and Sheila Kennedy seemed to be a happy one. Then in 1985, Joe decided to seek the congressional seat being vacated by Speaker of the House, Thomas "Tip" O'Neill. Once he was elected and decided to commit himself to a career in politics, the couple's differing interests caused strains in their relationship and things began a downhill slide which finally resulted in a separation in 1989 and a civil divorce two years later. Mrs. Kennedy then set about adjusting to her altered state of life and raising her twin sons. She showed no animosity toward her former husband, and in fact wished him well.

Then, to her surprise and anguish, on April 13, 1993 Sheila Kennedy received a registered letter from the tribunal of the Archdiocese of Boston, notifying her that Joe had submitted a petition asking that their marriage be declared null. As far as she was concerned, her marriage to Joe had ended; but Sheila Kennedy was deeply offended that he would seek a formal declaration that the union had never existed in the first place. Also, while she realized that a declaration of nullity would have no effect on her sons' legitimacy in civil or canon law, she abhorred the thought that they might be considered the children of an unsanctified union. The story she tells in this book involves her struggle to defend the validity of her marriage, and her discovery of other women who were subjected to similar ordeals.

Sheila Rauch Kennedy is an Episcopalian, who does not accept the Church's teaching that a valid, sanctified, and consummated marriage is indissoluble. Ironically, this lends a certain air of credibility to her indignation. She clearly has no wish to frustrate Joe's plans to marry his former aide, Beth Kelly. If the Church could simply declare her marriage to be over, and allow the intended wedding to take place, she would raise no objection.

But Sheila Kennedy does object to what she sees as the prevailing lack of intellectual honesty in a system which resorts to legal sleight-of-hand in order to accommodate virtually anyone who asks for freedom from the marriage bond--a system which issues declarations of nullity based on a perceived need to "heal" rather than on the facts and the law. She also was offended by the ways in which the tribunal system failed to respond to what she perceived as her legitimate apprehensions, and even employed questionable methods in handling her case.

Mrs. Kennedy does not oppose the tribunal system as such. She concedes that there are marriages which appear to be valid, sacramental, and consummated but in fact, are not. If there are grounds on which to question whether any of these essential elements are lacking, she does not challenge the right of the Church to evaluate the cases, and ultimately to decide in favor of nullity if the evidence justifies that conclusion. Still she does believe, as do many others, that actual nullity is the exception rather than the rule.

It took the Boston tribunal three and one-half years to decide the Kennedy case in Joe's favor. In the early stages of the process, feeling herself to be virtually alone and defenseless against the power of the Archdiocese of Boston and the Kennedy family, Sheila decided to go public with her story. To her surprise, she heard from a number of women who had comparable stories to tell; she made five of those stories a part of Shattered Faith. Four of the five women failed in their attempts to uphold the validity of their marriages. As one might expect, the resulting tales of broken hearts and crushed illusions do not make for pleasant reading.

Some readers have argued that these sad stories are not typical of the workings of the tribunal system in the United States. Perhaps they are right. In fact they are undoubtedly right insofar as most tribunal cases produce "satisfied customers;" in the vast majority of cases, both parties desire a declaration of nullity and they get what they want.

Still, even some of the people who seek and receive annulments might agree with Sheila Kennedy's criticisms. In England, one party to an annulment case described his concerns in an article published in the Tablet of January 25, 1993. The author, Robin Richards, said: "There is something--at least to English eyes--lacking in a system of justice where you do not know when the case is being heard, who the judges are, who the lawyers are, who the witnesses are, what is being said against you or for you--or indeed what you are supposed to have said."

After quoting that sentence in the Jurist (1994), Father John P. Beal of Catholic University explained that Robin Richard was not the typical "hostile respondent;" both Richards and his former wife desired an affirmative decision, which they received. Father Beal added:

To that sentiment, no doubt, Sheila Rauch Kennedy would say "Amen!"

The questions raised by Shattered Faith are critically important and deserve thorough reflection. Why do so many Catholic marriages fail? Is the widespread practice of declaring failed marriages to be non-existent a solution to the problem? What else can be done? These questions have all been asked before, and it is a sad reflection on the leadership of the Church that it took this book to bring them to public attention. It is even sadder that the book is receiving publicity not because of its inherent quality but only because a key character is a Kennedy. If Sheila Rauch had married Joe Blow--even Congressman Joe Blow--instead of Joe Kennedy, her story would never have seen the light of day.

Charles M. Wilson is the executive director of the St. Joseph Foundation, a non-profit organization based in San Antonio, Texas, which provides professional advice and assistance to Catholics who believe their rights in the Church have been violated.