Pope speeds up, simplifies centuries-old process for annulments

The reform also allows the local bishop, if the normally required three-judge tribunal isn't available, to be the judge himself or to delegate the handling of the cases to a priest-judge with two assistants.

That measure is aimed at providing Catholic couples with recourse to annulments in poorer parts of the world or places where the church doesn't have the resources or manpower to have fully functioning tribunals.

In the document, Francis insisted that marriage remains an indissoluble union and that the new regulations aren't meant to help to end them. Rather, he said, the reform is aimed at speeding up and simplifying the process so that the faithful can find justice.

The overall aim of the reform, he said, "is the salvation of souls."

"It is a democratizing move focused on easing the course of reintegration into the church for women in particular," said Candida Moss, a professor of biblical studies at the University of Notre Dame. "His actions are propelled by compassion and pragmatism. He recognizes the dangers of spousal abuse and the reality that many modern marriages are undertaken without full consideration."

Significantly, the reform places much more importance on the local bishop in handling marriage cases and reducing the need for recourse to the Vatican's courts — part of Francis' overall reform of the Catholic Church to decentralize power, returning it to bishops, as was the case in the early church.

The reform, which was the result of a yearlong study by canonists, is the second major initiative Francis has taken in two weeks that will have significant reverberations in the United States, which Francis will visit later this month.

Last week he said he was letting all rank-and-file priests grant absolution to women who have had abortions — an initiative for the upcoming Year of Mercy that has had significant impact in the U.S., where the abortion debate is a pressing political issue.

Nearly half the annulment cases in the world come from the United States, thanks in part to its well-functioning tribunal system. The reforms might drive up the U.S. numbers, though the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University has noted that the number of annulment cases in the U.S. and globally has dropped as the world's population ages and the number of marriages celebrated in the church has declined.

Already some conservatives have criticized Francis' abortion initiative as running the risk that some might misinterpret it as a softening on the church's opposition to abortion. Conservatives have also warned that simplifying the annulment procedure could imply the church is making it easier for couples to essentially get a Catholic "divorce."

Francis has long called for the church to be less legalistic and more merciful and understanding of the needs of its flock.

"To those who think Francis is watering down marriage or making it too easy to forgive abortion, the question is, What precisely is the argument against compassion?" said Christopher Bellitto, an associate professor of history at Keane University.

Catholics have long complained that it can take years to get an annulment, if they can get one at all. Costs can reach into the hundreds or thousands of dollars for legal and tribunal fees, though some dioceses have waived their fees.

In the document, Francis called for the fees to be waived, except for the just payment of tribunal personnel.

He has said the church should take into account that ignorance of the faith can be a reason to declare a marriage invalid. Francis previously quoted his predecessor as Buenos Aires archbishop as saying half the marriages that are celebrated are essentially invalid because people enter into them not realizing that matrimony is a lifelong commitment.

Norms attached to the new law say that "lack of faith" may be cause for an annulment.

The Associated Press