CHARLOTTE — A training program developed by the Diocese of Charlotte Tribunal has been adopted by its counterpart in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
The diocese’s program, created in 2005, trains people to become advocates, official Tribunal representatives who help gather and review information from Catholics who are seeking an annulment of their marriage.
Training usually takes six to nine months, and is done via emailed lessons. Training covers Church teaching on marriage as well as the particulars of advocacy on behalf of clients and the Tribunal process itself, said Joy Barnes, the Tribunal’s lead advocate, who spearheads the training effort.
The training program has been critical to the Tribunal’s effort to streamline the annulment process and minister more effectively to Catholics in need, goals set by Judicial Vicar Father John Putnam. The diocese has 63 volunteer advocates spread out over all 92 parishes and missions – situated conveniently so that they can meet with people in their own parishes.
The Tribunal’s case load is between 350 and 400 cases each year. Case times have dropped from nine months to seven months since 2015 for about half of the cases that the Tribunal handles.
The Atlanta archdiocese, which encompasses 103 parishes, began using the program Sept. 22. Its tribunal processes approximately 650 annulment cases per year, and leaders there were seeking more and better trained advocates to handle what is a demanding and high-volume case load.
Charlotte’s training program “impressed us since its inception,” said Joe Tovar, the archdiocese’s chief advocate.
“We like the fact that it provides the Tribunal a large number of well-trained volunteers who can assist those seeking an annulment not only in a pastoral role but in a canonical role as well,” added Father Daniel Ketter, Judicial Vicar of the Metropolitan Tribunal in the archdiocese.
Having more advocates means not only more effective ministry to the people seeking annulments, Father Ketter said, but also a more manageable case load for each advocate.
“We would hope that the increased number of advocates would provide constant contact and assurance in each case, thus reacting, promoting and guiding the case with more attention to detail throughout the process,” he said. He added, “By reducing the number of cases currently managed among two full-time and three part-time advocates, the case load can now be distributed among 50 or 60 advocates which would provide better service and representation to the parties, resulting in higher quality cases with favorable outcomes.”
Atlanta Tribunal leaders expect to modify the training program for its particular needs, and they hope eventually to add optional webinars and online videos.
They plan to kick off training in January, and they hope to begin their new Advocacy Program with approximately 60 or more trained advocates, Tovar said.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter