A group of lay Catholics who have had their families split by no-fault divorce asked the Vatican to urge the American bishops to come to their defense. Five testimonies were sent by Mary’s Advocates, a marriage advocacy group in Ohio, to the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative texts. The Catholic Apostolic Constitution gives individuals the right to ask the Vatican whether local Church laws violate the universal laws of the church. Bai Macfarlane, the director of Mary’s Advocates says, “When Catholics force no-fault divorce on their families, our American Catholic leadership remains silent bystanders. Pastors promote annulment and even divorce. We are asking the Holy See if we have the right to have canon law protections applied to our families by our local bishops and tribunals.”