As of the second week of December 2015, Pope Francis’ reforms to the annulment process have officially taken effect.
The changes were drafted in September of 2015.
The key changes
One of the key changes that are part of this reform is dropping the automatic appeal needed after a decision on nullity has been reached.
It also allows local bishops to be able to “make their own judgments on ‘evident’ cases of marriage nullity”, reports Catholic News Agency.
It’s common practice that once a decision has been made to nullify a marriage, this ruling is often automatically appealed to another deciding body, causing unnecessary delays.
With these Pope Francis reforms, only one judgment will be needed. However, should this ruling need to be appealed, it can be done in the nearest diocese; they no longer need to go to Rome.
This affects churches worldwide
Pope Francis also gave each diocese around the world the capacity to name a judge to process incoming cases.
The bishop has the option to be the only judge, or he can opt to set up a three-member tribuna which must have at least one cleric, while the other two members can be laypersons.
Pope Francis also declared that the annulment process will be free of charge.
Though these practices are already in place in dioceses worldwide, the new changes make it universal.
Read: 8 Parenting lessons we learned from Pope Francis
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