I wish marriage annulment process could be free of charge, says Pope Francis

Pope Francis has said he wished that all annulment processes could be free of charge.

In an address to the Roman Rota, the Vatican tribunal primarily responsible for hearing requests for marriage annulments, he said: “The sacraments are free. The sacraments give us grace. And a matrimonial process pertains to the sacrament of matrimony. How I wish that all processes were free.”

In an address inaugurating the Roman Rota’s judicial year, Pope Francis also said that, because contemporary culture portrays marriage as a “mere form of emotional gratification”, people often marry without a true understanding of the sacrament, meaning many such marriages might actually be invalid.

“The judge, in pondering the validity of the consent expressed, must take into account the context of values and of faith – or their presence or absence – in which the intent to marry was formed. In fact, ignorance of the contents of the faith could lead to what the code [of canon law] calls an error conditioning the will.

“This eventuality is not to be considered rare as in the past, precisely because worldly thinking often prevails over the magisterium of the Church,” the Pope said.