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Vatican City, Apr 19, 2017 / 06:05 am (Aid to the Church in Need).- As the Church jumps into the Easter season, Pope Francis Wednesday offered a reflection on Christ’s Resurrection and the start of Christianity, saying it’s not about us and what we do, but what the Lord has done for us.

“(Christianity) is not so much our search for God, but rather God's search for us. How beautiful to think that Christianity, essentially, is this!”

Jesus, the Pope said April 19, “has taken us, has seized us, has conquered us in order to not leave us anymore.”

In his catechesis for his first general audience of the Easter season, Francis spoke about the “grace” and “surprise” found in our Christian faith, saying we need hearts able to wonder, because hearts that are closed-off cannot understand the truth of what Christianity is.

Even though we are sinners and might look at our lives realizing how many times we have failed to live out our good intentions, we can follow the example of the men and women in the Gospel on Easter morning, he said.

“We can do as those people spoken of in the Gospel: go to the tomb of Christ, see the large upturned stone and reflect that God is building for me, for all of us, an unforeseen future.”

And more, we can all go into the tomb of our hearts, he said, and see how God is able to transform death into life.

“Here is happiness, here is joy and life where everyone thought there was only sadness, defeat and darkness,” Francis said, adding that “God raises his most beautiful flowers in the midst of the most arid stones.”

Pope Francis then reflected on the start of Christianity following Christ’s death and resurrection, emphasizing that these events aren’t just an “ideology” or a “philosophical” belief, but real events witnessed by Jesus’ disciples.

These, he said, are the facts: “he died, was buried, is risen and has appeared. That is, Jesus is alive! This is the core of the Christian message.”

If facts had been different and Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, but only died for us, we would perhaps have an example of heroism or supreme dedication, but it could not be the source of our faith, he said.

Instead, our faith is born out of Christ’s resurrection, the Pope said, noting that this is true even for the faith of St. Paul, who was no “altar boy,” but actually persecuted Christians and the Church.

“And the persecutor becomes an apostle because?” he asked, explaining that the reason is because he saw the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus.

“This is the foundation of Paul's faith, like the faith of the other Apostles, like the faith of the Church, of our faith,” he said. “Because I have seen Jesus alive! I have seen the risen Jesus Christ!”

Francis closed his audience saying that Christianity comes not from death, but from God’s love for us in defeating our “bitter enemy.”

“God is bigger than anything, and you only need one lite candle to overcome the darkest of nights,” he said. “Paul cries, echoing the prophets: ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’”

“In these days of Easter, let us carry this cry in our hearts, and if they ask us for the reason for our smile and our patient sharing, then we can respond that Jesus is still here, he continues to live in the midst of us. Jesus is alive!”

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has sent a letter to Brazil’s President, Michel Temer, saying he will not be able to make a visit to the country in 2017 due to scheduling conflicts.

A statement from the Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Holy Father sent the letter “a few days ago” but that it was not published in its entirety “because it was of a private nature”.

The statement said it came “as a response to a letter sent by Mr. Michel Temer in which the Head of State invited the Pope to visit Brazil in 2017 for the 300th anniversary of Aparecida.”

Pope Francis said in the letter that “unfortunately he could not make the trip because his schedule would not allow it.”

“Also, since in his letter President Temer made reference to his efforts to confront the social problems of the country, the Pope underlined that aspect and encouraged him to work for the promotion of the country’s poorest people,” the statement concludes.

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Santiago, Chile, Apr 19, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the process of declaring the nullity of marriage there is a position of  utmost importance which allows the judges to reach the moral certainty required to make their judgement: the office of the defender of the bond.

A marriage is presumed valid unless it is proved otherwise. The nullity of a marriage is established only when there exists proof that a marriage never in fact took place.

The defender of the bond participates in the process of declaring nullity “always to defend the validity of the marriage,” Sigal Rodríguez Conca, a canon lawyer who has worked for the tribunal of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile, told CNA.

The defender of the bond, Rodriguez said, aims to ensure that the process is conducted fairly, and upholds the marriage’s presumed validity. This role sets out arguments and aims to rebuts any evidence and conclusions of the petitioner – the spouse who is seeking to challenge the marriage's validity.

“Obviously if there is no argument to make in favor of a marriage’s validity, the case is left to the knowledge and conscience of the judges,” said Rodriguez.

The role of the defender of the bond is outlined in canon law, and the person who fills the role is appointed by the bishop.

This role makes it possible to have “a true examination in the process of marriage nullity,” Rodriguez said. The respondent to an annulment case sought by the petitioner rarely participates in the proceedings, and “when they do respond, in the majority of casese they are in favor of a declaration of nullity.”

Once a diocese’s judicial vicar has accepted a request to hear a process of declaring the nullity of marriage, the defender of the bond is notified in writing, and must respond to the arguments presented by the lawyer representing the petitioner’s case.

Pope Francis made changes to the nullity process in December 2015, introducing a shorter process.

In the shortest available annulment process, in which the bishop hears the case, the defender of the bond has 15 days to present observations in favor of the existence of the marriage bond.

The defender of the bond has the right to be present at the statements by the parties to marriage, and the statements by witnesses and experts. He has the right to examine the judicial documents and any documents presented by the parties.

In addition, the defender must be notified of the entire content of the ruling and has the right to appeal any declaration of nullity if it is considered unjust. He has “the last word” in all arguments presented before the verdict in the case, Rodriguez said.

Without the defender of the bond, there would not exist a real cross-examination in the marriage nullity process, which allows a greater possibility for the moral certainty required to rule in favor of or against nullity.

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