ORLANDO  |  The ministry carried out by the Tribunal of the Diocese of Orlando recently closed a generational cycle with the retirements of Father J. Fernando Gil, JCD, judicial vicar, Father Joseph Bellerive, adjutant judicial vicar, and Diana Anderson, tribunal manager. Retiring from one of the busiest tribunals in the country, together they leave a legacy of compassion and fruitful application of Church justice by upholding the obligations and rights of the People of God, as outlined in the Code of Canon Law.

Father Gil retired after almost four decades of serving the Diocese of Orlando in different capacities — pastor, director of Hispanic Ministry, director of Farmworker Ministry, co-director of vocations, episcopal delegate, tribunal advocate, Defender of the Bond, collegiate tribunal judge and judicial vicar.

The priest arrived in the diocese with years of experience as a civil lawyer. Earning law and criminology degrees before entering seminary, Bishop Thomas Grady and Sister Lucy Vazquez encouraged him to study canon law to be prepared to serve in the future on the diocesan tribunal. “So, I ended up completing both a licentiate and a doctoral degree in canon law,” he said.

With the approval of then-Bishop Thomas Wenski, then of the Orlando Diocese, Father Gil pursued a doctoral degree in biblical studies, followed years later by studies in Hebrew, Aramaic and Jewish education, which provided him with tools for preaching and teaching the Word of God.

“Working at the Tribunal all these years has been a great joy and honor. A devotion to Jesus, the just judge, was always in my heart and mind before a case decision was made,” Father Gil said. In moments when special help was needed, Father Gil said he could never forget what one professor at the school of canon law advised him: “Fernando, do not forget the most complex cases must be elucidated and resolved on your knees, at the feet of the Blessed Sacrament.”

Anderson said she admires Father Gil’s keen mind and patience, noting how carefully he explained things in a logical manner, often simplifying the most complicated cases making them easier to comprehend.

Father Vigny Joseph Bellerive, JCD retired after more than 20 years of serving the Diocese of Orlando as pastor, tribunal advocate, collegiate tribunal judge and adjutant judicial vicar.

He arrived in the diocese after serving as a priest at Notre Dame Cathedral in France. With an impressive educational background in the areas of medical studies, theology and canon law from both Canadian and French graduate universities, he served the Tribunal with great commitment and expertise.

“He is not only an excellent canonist with an incredible capacity for legal discernment and an extraordinary ability to bring solution to challenging and complex matrimonial and penal cases, but also a versatile and accomplished musician, an opera singer with a vocal range between countertenor and baritone, a dedicated researcher in the areas of Church history, canon law and liturgy, a prolific writer and a polyglot, among many other talents that he has humbly and wisely used for God’s glory”, Father Gil said.

Anderson concurred calling Father Bellerive a “problem-solver,” being given “the most difficult cases” because of his way of speaking to respondents, helping them move forward.

Anderson will retire in early November after more than 37 years of serving the diocese in different capacities — religious education at St. Mary Magdalen Parish in Altamonte Springs, and tribunal ecclesiastical notary and tribunal manager for the past 18 years. A woman of a deep faith in the Lord, she said her favorite part of tribunal work is when there is a positive outcome.

“All of these people are looking to come back into communion with the Church. It’s wonderful when their sacramental life is restored,” she said.

Father Gil called Anderson, “a good conductor, so to speak, who would set the daily wheels of a canonical judicial system in motion.”

Father Bellerive added, “She is one of the most amazing, efficient, welcoming and humble members that the Tribunal of the Orlando Diocese has ever had. Throughout the last 20 years that I spent working with her, she has been very supportive and professional, not only to the judges, but also to the staff, the advocates and to all who seek answers to the nullity of their marriages. She will be missed. Many blessings to her for her dedication.”

Father John C. Giel, vicar general and chancellor of canonical affairs, said Anderson and Father Gil “were a terrific pair in keeping the extensive work going in our tribunal.”

Of Father Bellerive he said, “He was a great judge who did his work in timely fashioned and helped numerous people searching to come home to the Church.”

In the last decade, the Tribunal of the Diocese of Orlando has led the national ecclesiastical judicial system in the number of petitions for marriage annulments. It also handled a significant number of complex penal cases, delegated by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome and by national and foreign dioceses. The Tribunal has been charged twice with the investigation of alleged miraculous events attributed to the intercession of two candidates for sainthood- Blessed Emperor Charles I of Austria and Father Patrick Peyton, who coined the phrase: “The family that prays together, stays together.”

“Our Tribunal is part of a collaborative and team effort carried out by the judicial vicars, advocates, judges, defenders of the bond, court experts, and ecclesiastical notaries, a true diocesan family,” Father Gil said. “All of them possess a profound faith in the Lord Jesus, great listening skills and a tremendous pastoral zeal, always keeping in mind that the supreme law of Mother Church is the salvation of souls.”

Despite being retired, Fathers Gil and Bellerive will continue working as judges of the Tribunal due to the heavy caseload.

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, October 22, 2025