Pope Francis
Pope
Francis announced new procedures on Tuesday to make it easier for Roman
Catholics to obtain marriage annulments, a change intended to
streamline a process long criticised by many Catholics as too
cumbersome, complicated and expensive, The New York Times reports.
Under the new rules, the process will be much faster for cases in which a couple is not contesting the annulment.
Such cases had required two separate
judgments from a diocesan tribunal. Now, the process, overseen by local
bishops, will require only one judgment. Moreover, the new rules require
that the hearing process be held within 30 days of application,
eliminating a longer waiting period.
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Francis
is also instructing Catholic bishops to be more welcoming to divorced
or separated Catholics “who have abandoned the church.” Local dioceses
will be asked to establish commissions to reach out to couples seeking
annulments.
Francis outlined the new rules in two
papal letters, known in Latin as Motu Proprio, or personal
administrative decrees. In speeding up the annulment process, Francis is
trying to make the church more merciful and responsive to the needs of
Catholics, yet he does not want to appear to be encouraging divorce.
Francis wrote that his new rules “do not
favor the nullity of marriages, but the expedition of trials, as well
as a just simplification.”
The Catholic Church is a misogynist
tribe that officially defines women as inferior. This new supposedly
forward-thinking chieftain has no…
Divorce is a topic that has long
splintered many of the Catholic faithful from the church. Under church
law, marriage is indissoluble, and divorce is not recognized. Yet many
Catholics are divorced, especially in the Western world, and the divide
between reality on the ground and church dogma has alienated many.
Many Catholics had been watching closely
to see how Francis would address the issue of annulments as part of a
broader debate about whether the church should allow divorced and
remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments such as communion.
The church has long offered an annulment
process in which a marriage can be declared invalid if the husband or
wife can prove the union failed to meet certain requirements. In August
2014, Francis appointed a commission to study the best way to overhaul
the annulment process.
The new rules allow local bishops to
establish tribunals to hear annulment cases. The tribunals should
consist of three members, ideally clerics, although the rules allow a
bishop to appoint up to two lay members of the diocese to a tribunal.
Title : Pope Francis makes divorce easier for Catholics
Description : Pope Francis Pope Francis announced new procedures on Tuesday to make it easier for Roman Catholics to obtain marriage annulm...
