Pope Francis on Tuesday revolutionized the procedure for Roman Catholics to get marriage annulments, making them faster and simpler and calling on bishops to provide greater help to divorced couples.
The most substantial changes to Catholic marriage annulment procedures in centuries again showed Francis' desire for the Church to be more merciful to Catholics in difficulty. The 1.2 billion member Church does not recognize divorce, Reuters reported.
In a document known as a Motu Proprio, Latin for "by his own initiative," Francis reaffirmed traditional teaching on the "indissolubility of marriage," but streamlined procedures that many considered cumbersome, lengthy, outdated and expensive.
