No-cost annulments

In the news: Pope suggests no-cost annulments in divorce cases ... Yes! :)

Not being raised Catholic, my first introduction to annulments was when I was in RCIA. There was nothing taught about it in the classes, but before or after every meeting, the female facilitator of the classes would nag divorced me about applying for one ... you would think she was getting kickbacks. I did eventually visit my parish's marriage tribunal website to find out more. I was aghast at the byzantine labyrinth of legalisms but even worse was the cost. I had thought it might be around $50 for an annulment but it was $1000+! The word "scam" leapt to mind and I gave up on applying for an annulment.

Pope Francis said ...

We have to be careful that the procedure does not become some kind of business .... There have been public scandals. .... I had to dismiss a person from a tribunal some time ago who said: 'Give me $10,000 and I'll take care of both the civil and ecclesiastical procedures.' Please, not this! .... When you attach economic interests to spiritual interests, it is not about God .... The mother church has so much generosity it could provide justice free of charge.

Good for him!