Pope Francis gets it right: today’s changes to the marriage annulment process are bold and brave

Pope Francis today made sweeping changes to the procedures by which Catholics get their marriages annulled – that is, receive official permission to marry again because their first marriage was invalid.

Here’s part of a news story by Reuters Vatican correspondent Philip Pullella:

Pope Francis on Tuesday made it simpler and swifter for Catholics to secure a marriage annulment, the most radical such reform for 250 years, and told bishops to be more welcoming to divorced couples.

Under the old norms, it often took years to win an annulment, with hefty legal fees attached. Francis said the procedure should be free and the new rules mean that a marriage might be declared null and void in just 45 days in some cases …

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.