VATICAN CITY
Crux
By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor September 8, 2015
In his latest reform move, Pope Francis on Tuesday issued two new legal documents, each technically known as a motu proprio, the thrust of which is to make it faster, easier, and less expensive to obtain an annulment.
In Catholic parlance, an “annulment” means a ruling by a Church court that a union between a man and a woman, even if it featured a Church wedding, is not a valid marriage because it fails one of the traditional tests, such as a lack of genuine consent or a psychological incapacity to undertake the obligations.
Annulments are hugely important at the retail level of the faith, because for Catholics whose relationships break down and who want to get married in the Church to someone else, they first have to obtain one.
It’s no accident that Francis is making this move on the cusp of a special “Holy Year of Mercy” that he has decreed will begin Dec. 8, the same day these changes take effect. On Tuesday, he said the decision was driven by a pastoral desire to lift the “darkness of doubt” from people’s hearts about their marital status.
While experts will pour over the details in the days to come, here are three immediate observations about what it means.
The decision will recalibrate the discussion at October’s second edition of the Synod of Bishops on the family, likely reducing the emphasis on the question of Communion for divorced and remarried Catholics and creating space for other issues to emerge.
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