Tribunal
Phone: 214-379-2840 Fax: 214-523-2437 Email: mgillett@cathdal.org
Judicial Vicar: Rev. Msgr. John
P. Bell, JCL
Director
and Judge: William C. Hare III, JCL.
Assessor: Margaret Gillett
Auditors: Elsa
Buendia; Maria Longoria-Chavez; Carol Phillips; Brenda M. Smith; Nora D.
Smith
Director and Judge: William C. Hare III, JCL.
Assessor: Margaret Gillett
Auditors: Elsa Buendia; Maria Longoria-Chavez; Carol Phillips; Brenda M. Smith; Nora D. Smith
What does the Dallas Tribunal Do?
The Dallas Tribunal does the following:
• Reviews, processes, and adjudicates petitions for invalidity of marriage (annulments).
• Supervises dispensations and permissions for the celebration of marriage in the Catholic Church.
• Performs canonical research for clergy and laity upon request.
• Processes clergy petitions for return to the lay state.
• Presents information sessions to inform the public of the work of the Tribunal.
• Offers workshops for clergy and lay
ministers concerning the adjudication of matrimonial cases,
marriage preparation, prenuptial paperwork processing, and sacramental
record keeping.
The major portion of the Dallas Tribunal’s work revolves around the “annulment process” as a response to requests by those who have divorced to investigate whether their former marriages fulfilled the Church’s theological and canonical understanding of marriage.