{"product_id":"what-god-has-joined-together-the-annulment-crisis-in-american-catholicism-9780195107647","title":"What God Has Joined Together: The Annulment Crisis in American Catholicism","description":"The recent controversy over Joe Kennedy's annulment gave only a glimpse of American Catholicism's open secret: that contrary to official Catholic doctrine, American churches grant annulments wholesale, freely declaring marriages nonexistent so that one or both partners can remarry in the\u003cbr\u003echurch. \u003cbr\u003e The United States is home to only 6% of the world's Catholics, Robert Vasoli points out, but it now accounts for 75% of all Church annulments, two-thirds of which are granted on ostensibly psychological grounds. The real scandal, though, is not simply the numbers, but that Church marriage\u003cbr\u003ecourts annul thousands of marriages that are actually valid according to Catholic teaching. Drawing on considerable research, the author details precisely how these courts let divorced Catholics--and many non-Catholics as well--bypass Catholic teaching and law. He shows, for instance, how they often\u003cbr\u003ehelp petitioners manufacture grounds for annulment, which are justified with specious psychological reasoning that are counter to the letter and spirit of canon law. Indeed, it may even be alleged that lack of emotional maturity at the time of the wedding can invalidate marriages that have lasted\u003cbr\u003e30 years. The result has been a tidal wave: in 1968, the American church granted fewer than 600 annulments; today it hands out more than 60,000 a year. But Rome has not smiled on the performance of U.S. tribunals: of those psychological annulments appealed to the Roman Rota (the Vatican's highest\u003cbr\u003emarriage tribunal), more than 90% are overturned. \u003cbr\u003e This revealing look at annulment weaves painstaking analysis with a wealth of evidence as it illuminates the degree to which the U.S. Church has gone its own way since Vatican II on what constitutes valid marriage.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Robert H. Vasoli\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/16\/1998\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 264\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.14lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.52h x 6.44w x 1.01d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780195107647\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/15\/1998 pg. 148\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/07\/1998 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eRobert Vasoli\u003c\/strong\u003e is a retired Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. He is frequently consulted by the media and by laypersons on the issue of annulment. He lives in South Bend, Indiana.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis title is not returnable\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":40210683396211,"sku":"9.7802E+12","price":52.95,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/9255\/0515\/products\/img_ed40473b-e230-48f2-960e-88338ed66ed8.jpg?v=1656421530","url":"https:\/\/bookstorenmore.com\/en-de\/products\/what-god-has-joined-together-the-annulment-crisis-in-american-catholicism-9780195107647","provider":"Bookstore N More","version":"1.0","type":"link"}