Pope Francis Makes Marriage Annulment Process Easier, Cheaper

Pope Francis has reportedly changed the process of receiving a marriage annulment in the Catholic church to make the procedure faster and cheaper.

The Vatican announced this week that the new procedures, to begin in December, will allow couples to achieve their annulments more quickly if neither is contesting the annulment.

The new rules also eliminate one of the trials required for annulments, according to the New York Times.

"To ensure that a case doesn't sleep, tribunals and judges will have to sleep a little less," Msgr. Alejandro W. Bunge, who helped modify the annulment process, said in a recent statement.

According to CNN, Rev. James Bretzke, who specializes in papal affairs at Boston College, said that this recent move further enhances Francis' papal image as a pope of the people.

"This move is in accord with the Pope's oft-repeated image of the Church as a 'field hospital' that goes out to meet people where they are most in need, and then to treat their most serious wounds first -- rather than stay at home and wait for people to come to them," Bretzke told the media outlet.

 The pope's recent decision has received support from American Catholics, including Sister Noreen O'Connell, an Adrian Dominican nun with the Archdioceses of Detroit.

"I agree with him 100 percent," O'Connell recently told the Detroit Free Press. "Thanks be to God," she continued, adding "The annulment issue has kept too many people away from the church for too long."