Pope Francis Makes Marriage Annulment Faster, Easier, Cheaper For Catholics

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- It is going to be easier and cheaper for Catholics to get marriage annulments.

Pope Francis announced Tuesday reforms that will simplify and speed up the procedure. Annulments will also be cheaper.

Under the new changes, bishops will be allowed to fast-track and grant certain annulments. The process will be free of charge, except for administrative fees, and will take only 45 days.

The Pope's reforms become part of Catholic canon law on December 8, the date he has declared the beginning of the "Jubilee Holy Year of Mercy."

The Catholic church does not recognize civil divorce. Catholics who remarry cannot receive Holy Communion.

The Vatican announced the changes in two documents called Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus and Mitis et misericors Iesus. Both are written in Latin and Italian.

In his introduction, the Pope said he "decided to give with this Motu proprio arrangements that do not favor the nullifying of marriages but the promptness of the processes," so that "the heart of the faithful that wait for the clarification of their state may not be oppressed for a long time by the darkness of doubt."