The mechanism of the exequatur of ecclesiastical sentences of matrimonial nullity provided for by the Agreement of Villa Madama has been subject for several years to an increasingly severe limitation of its operation, which blurs the sense, value and scope of its specialty. This is mainly due to an escalation in the pervasiveness of the control of substantive public order, simply unimaginable in 1984. The reference to Carlo F. Gabba’s scientific thought, especially where it deals with themes of ecclesiastical and international-privatistic importance, seems to provide surprising links and useful points for reflections which help, albeit ’at a distance’, to focus on the deep reasons for this drastic and progressive crisis of functionality, and indirectly, finally, to figure out a plausible junction that leads to the overcoming of the impasse.