Matrimonial nullity trial reforms of Pope Francis

The matrimonial nullity trial reforms of Pope Francis are the reforms of Catholic canon law governing such trials, reported public 8 September 2015. The reforms were effected by two separate apostolic letters from Pope Francis, the motu proprio Mitis iudex dominus Iesus amending the 1983 script of Canon Law, and the motu proprio Mitis et misericors Iesus amending the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. This was in response to the bishops who, during the Synod on the rank of 5-9 October 2014, called for simplification of the procedure whereby a legally invalid marriage is declared null.

At the press conference announcing the reforms, Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, the president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, emphasized that the church does non decree the "annulment" of a legally valid marriage, but rather declares the "nullity" of a legally invalid marriage.

History of the reforms

The reforms were provided by a corporation of experts in matrimonial jurisprudence. According to experts at the Vatican, they are the most expansive revision in matrimonial nullity jurisprudence in centuries. The reforms are a departure from the 18th-century matrimonial nullity reforms of the canonist Pope Benedict XIV.