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In a sharp revision of Catholic policy, Pope Francis rewrote the process of annulling a marriage within the church on Tuesday, issuing two apostolic letters aimed at speeding and simplifying what has often been a process lasting more than a year.


The Catholic Church still doesn't recognize divorce, but the new changes promise to make it easier to annul marriages that are deemed invalid by a church court, by using a process that is "more agile," 

Under the new rules, only one judgment will be required before a marriage is determined invalid and annulled. And in cases where both parties agree, an annulment can be expedited by a bishop. Pope Francis also ordered that the courts waive most of the fees that in the past have regularly cost hundreds of dollars for cases in the U.S.


As for how many people in the U.S. might be affected by the changes, Joshua McElwee of the 

 that there were recently as many as 80,000 annulment cases annually in America — but that the number has fallen sharply.


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"The latest statistics say about 20,000 cases of these come up a year in the United States," McElwee says. "The problem is that it takes a long time, you've got to present a lot of evidence, and there always has to be a second appeal — so whatever the first court decides, the second court has to confirm it. It can take six months to a year, or longer."


The change comes a month after Pope Francis said Catholics who divorce and then remarry 

 — and not excommunicated.
Last week, a Pew Research Center 

 was released that showed 60 percent favor allowing divorced Catholics who then remarry to receive communion — contrary to current doctrine.


The Vatican says the annulment changes are "the result of an expert group" that studied the state of the church's marriage laws. But the timing of the reform announcement took some observers by surprise.

Religion and Faith

In a sharp revision of Catholic policy, Pope Francis rewrote the process of annulling a marriage within the Church Tuesday.

Announcing reform, Pope Francis smooths process to annul marriages

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