Catholic Church makes it easier to annul marriage

The Holy See has released two new papal decrees intended to make it faster, easier and less expensive to obtain a marriage annulment.

Based on the recommendations of a Vatican commission on the church marriage process, instituted by Pope Francis himself, the annulment reforms include a one-sentence judgment without obligatory appeal; a single judge; greater powers for both the local bishop and the national bishops' conference; and various measures intended to speed up court hearings.

However, the pope also said that he is aware that an abbreviated process might “put the principle of the indissolubility of marriage at risk”.

To that end, the pope called for the “bishop himself” to be constituted judge “in such [difficult] cases”.

The timing of this announcement, coming on the eve of two key moments in this pontificate, is hardly coincidental.

Firstly, at the end of this month, the pope will travel to Cuba and North America on a pastoral visit, when he is scheduled to make keynote speeches both to the UN General Assembly and to a joint session of the US Congress.

On his return from the US, the pope then heads into the second synod on the family, which follows on from last October’s controversial first synod.

To some extent, these two new decrees may go some way to taking a deal of the heat out of both events.

As Pope Francis prepares for his first trip to the US, many commentators have wondered just how he will articulate his “church of the poor” message, which is so critical of poverty, war and forced migration, in the heartland of the richest, most capitalist nation on the planet.

However, Tuesday’s decrees seem to indicate an approval of American Catholicism.

For years now, the US Catholic Church has worked hard to make the annulment process faster and more available, so much so that the US alone frequently accounts for half of annual Catholic Church annulments, even though US Catholics account for only 6 per cent of Catholics worldwide.

‘An American approach’

US commentator John Allen suggests that the decrees may prompt “a sense of [US] vindication”, since it seems that the pope is steering the church along the lines of “an American approach”.

However, the announcement may have an even bigger impact on next month’s synod.

One of the issues that is likely to cause friction at the synod is the question of whether Catholics who have divorced or remarried without first obtaining an annulment should then be allowed to receive communion, something currently banned by church teaching.

In speeding up the annulment process, the pope partly takes the sting out of the issue.

While the pope may not be lifting the communion ban, he is at least showing greater compassion and inclusivity.

The synod may also have more time and space for other family-related issues as a result of the annulment reforms.

Not for the first time, Francis has acted as both a compassionate pastor and a shrewd politician.