About This Ministry
Why this work exists.
A note from the tribunal bench on the help engaged couples deserve before they say "I do."
Every nullity case I write began, once, at an altar, where two people said "I do" without truly knowing what those words would ask of them. That is why this ministry exists.
I remain a parish priest, and for twenty years I have had the solemn duty of serving as a Judge of the Interdiocesan Marriage Tribunal of Enugu, where I currently serve as President. In that time, thousands of cases have come across my desk. Each wedding day was, by every outward sign, joyful and full of promise. Yet each ended in a tribunal office, with two people asking the Church to declare that what they exchanged that day was never, in fact, a valid sacramental bond.
Rooted in Pastoral Service
This work is not built to highlight personal credentials, but to place twenty years of judicial experience as a tribunal judge and president at the service of the Church, helping engaged couples and parish priests build marriages that stand firm.
A counsel of hope, not of despair.
Nearly every case I have reviewed carried, somewhere in its quiet history, a warning sign the couple did not recognize in time. A question that was not asked. A conversation that was avoided. A pressure that was felt but never named. A psychological capacity that was assumed but never confirmed.
So a question began to follow me from the tribunal seat into personal prayer: What if a couple could see, before the wedding, what a tribunal judge sees only long after? What if couples could ask those same questions, and hold those same honest conversations, while there is still time, freedom, and grace to answer them well?
That is the sole purpose of Catholic Marriage Life. Not to discourage marriages, for the Church needs strong, holy families, but to help you enter the sacrament with your eyes open: your consent free, your capacity sound, your intention right, and your unity real.
The Framework
The Five Pillars of Valid Consent.
Drawn from canon law and tribunal jurisprudence, each pillar names a dimension of consent required for a Catholic marriage to be valid, joyful, and indissoluble (CCC 1625).
- IClarityDo you understand what you are consenting to, free from deceit?
- IIFreedomAre you giving consent without grave external pressure or force?
- IIICapacityAre you psychologically capable of assuming marital duties?
- IVIntentionAre you intending the permanent, faithful covenant the Church offers?
- VUnityAre you and your fiancé(e) truly building one common life together?
I write so that every engaged Catholic couple may say "I do" with the freedom, clarity, and capacity their vow requires. May the Lord, who instituted marriage and raised it to a sacrament, lead you safely to the altar he has prepared for you. Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam
Begin with the diagnostic.
Five minutes. Twenty questions. The operative questions a tribunal judge learns to ask, brought before the wedding day while there is still time to answer them together.
Take the Marriage Readiness Diagnostic