Pope radically simplifies Catholic annulment procedures

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Tuesday made it simpler and swifter for Catholics to secure a marriage annulment—the most radical such reform in 250 years.

The pope also told bishops to be more welcoming to divorced couples.

Before, it would often take years to win an annulment, with hefty legal fees attached. Francis said the procedure should be free. Under the new rules, a marriage might be declared null and void in just 45 days.

The announcement came a week after Francis signaled a more merciful approach to women who had obtained abortions. It was another sign of his drive to shake up the hidebound Roman Catholic Church and try to soften some of its more rigid rules.

In a document known as a Motu Proprio, Latin for “by his own initiative”, Francis reaffirmed traditional teaching on the “indissolubility of marriage,” making clear that the Vatican was not in any form promoting or sanctioning divorce.

However, he said, he would make it easier for separated couples to obtain an annulment—a ruling where the Church might decide that a marriage was not valid in the first place because certain prerequisites such as free will, psychological maturity and openness to having children were lacking.

Monsignor Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Vatican appeals court that rules on annulments, said the new rules were the most substantive changes to the laws since the papacy of Benedict XIV, who reigned from 1740 to 1758.

“The pope is seeking to respond pastorally to the tens of thousands of couples who are experiencing profound pain and alienation as a result of broken marriages,” said Father James Bretzke, theology professor at Boston College.

AFP ANEWLY married couple arrives in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican for Pope Francis’ weekly general audience. The Argentinian pontiff said annulments would require the approval of only one church tribunal, instead of the current two.