Henry and Abby Root were not Catholic when they married in June 1972. Henry had been divorced from his first wife, whom he married in 1964, before he and Abby met; but the pastor at the Episcopal parish where the couple exchanged vows had given his approval for the marriage.

But when Henry and Abby converted to the Catholic faith, they learned that the Catholic Church was not as willing to overlook Henry's failed first marriage. They fulfilled the requirements for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) at Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan; but without an annulment, they could not be full members of the Catholic Church and could not receive Christ in the Eucharist.

At the urging of the late Jesuit theologian Fr. John Hardon, Henry filed for an annulment; but nothing happened. Official records at the Episcopal church, showing that the marriage had been approved, had been destroyed. Year after troubling year, the married couple waited for word from the diocese. During those years, they attended daily Mass but abstained from receiving communion. Finally, at the urging of a local priest, Henry filed new paperwork and began the process a second time. Even then, it took more than two years for the annulment to be finalized. On August 19, 2000, nearly nine years after first filing for an annulment, Henry and his wife Abby were received into the Church.

The annulment process is not always as difficult as it was for Henry and Abby Root. The average waiting period for a couple who file for an annulment is one to two years. But today, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio Mitis Iudex (The Gentle Judge, the Lord Jesus), instructing the Church to make it easier still. A second letter, Mitis et misericors Iesus (Jesus, Meek and Merciful), presented a similar message to the Eastern churches. Under the new rules, people who find themselves in a matrimonial purgatory, wondering whether the Church will rule their earlier marriage invalid, can get an answer in a timely fashion.

In a press conference September 8 at the Vatican, Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, Dean of the Roman Rota and Chair of the Annulment Reform Commission, explained that the reforms instituted by Pope Francis represent the third major revision of the annulment process in the history of the Catholic Church. Earlier revisions were overseen by Pope Benedict XIV in 1741 and Pope Pius X in 1908. Monsignor Pinto noted that as a post-conciliar pope, Francis' reform reflects the collegiality with his brother bishops that grew from the Second Vatican Council. Although the sacramental theology regarding the permanence of the marriage bond remains, when the motu proprio goes into effect on December 8, it will no longer be necessary for the bishop of one diocese to get a second ruling from another bishop or from Rome on ordinary annulment proceedings.

Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, highlighted the pastoral purpose of the document, to “speed things up” for the couple awaiting an annulment.  Under certain specific conditions—when there is no doubt about the facts of the case, and where both parties agree—the local bishop may exercise his judicial authority to declare nullity.

The benefit to the person requesting the annulment, of course, is that with only one judge, rather than two, the process will be expedited. There may, in some dioceses, also be a cost savings—although at its worst, it's unlikely that annulments are as expensive as reported by the Associated Press. In a September 7 article AP reported, for example, that “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.” In actuality, in the Archdiocese of Detroit all costs are borne by the Archdiocese, paid for through contributions to the Christian Service Appeal (CSA). In the Diocese of Knoxville, Bishop Richard Stika reminded people that there has never been a charge for annulments. There may be some dioceses around the country which do charge a tribunal fee; but that charge is most certainly not in the “thousands of dollars.”

Moving forward, dioceses will implement a fast-track procedure, with the goal of completing a case within 45 days. Appeals are still possible in complicated cases, but are not required in all instances—a policy which has been in force in the United States for many years. And in smaller dioceses where a three-judge tribunal isn't available, the bishop may choose to serve as judge himself or, more likely, to appoint a single priest-judge with two assistants.

The September 8 Vatican press conference unveiled changes to annulment policies which had been finalized by Pope Francis on August 15. The new guidelines will go into effect December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, as well as the opening day of the Year of Mercy and the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council.

The motu proprio Mitis Iudex is now available at the Vatican website. For a detailed analysis, canon lawyer Edward Peters offers information on Mitis Iudex at his blog, In the Light of the Law.