Catholic Women Theologians Converse On Marriage Annulment

by Daluxolo Moloantoa · August 14, 2023

As part of Women`s Month, women theologians in the Archdiocese of Johannesburg hosted a talk on the process, context and meaning of marriage annulment from a Catholic perspective on Saturday August 12 at Christ the King Cathedral in Johannesburg.

The guest speaker of the talk was Ms Marieke Vrugtman, a Canon Law and marriage annulment expert. The morning started off with a brief introduction to the day`s topic by Dr Nontando Hadebe, a woman theologian and lecturer at St Augustine University in Johannesburg.

In her address, Ms Vrugtman gave a history of marriage in the Catholic context from the early Church and through the ages. She focused on the interpretation of marriage through Canon Law and also from what Vatican II espoused on it. “Marriage is one of the sacraments of the Church which Vatican II impacted upon in a ground-breaking way. This is when it was termed as Marriage of Covenant,” she said.

She went on to outline how the changes to marriage brought about by Vatican II changed the laws of the Church and how it impacted Catholic couples. After her talk, a question and answer session took place with the attendees. Various questions were looked at and discussed among the participants.

At the end of the session Ms Ndivile Mokoena, a fellow organiser of the event gave a vote of thanks. This was followed by a group prayer to close the seminar.