The move reflects tensions between liberals and conservatives within the Vatican
By Tom Kington in Rome
2:10PM BST 21 Sep 2014
Pope Francis has ordered a group of theologians and lawyers to come up with ways to help Catholics divorce more easily – a move which may help diffuse a bruising battle between liberals and conservatives at the Vatican.
The 11-member commission, announced on Saturday, will seek to "simplify the (annulment) procedure, making it more streamlined, while safeguarding the principle of the indissolubility of marriage," the Vatican said.
By undergoing a complex and often costly church procedure, Catholics can obtain annulments if they can show their marriage was not valid in the first place, perhaps because a partner declined to have children.
If Catholics instead opt for a simpler civil divorce – which is not recognised by the Church – and then remarry, they can be refused communion because the Church considers them to be still married and living in sin.
The idea of relaxing that rule and allowing remarried divorcees to receive communion was hinted at in February by German Cardinal Walter Kasper, who is close to Pope Francis. But, just before a synod next month which will discuss marriage, a group of five conservative Catholic Church figures, including German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, have fought back with a book opposing any change.
Francis has not openly backed either side in the debate, but appeared to take aim at the conservatives on Friday when he warned the Church against the temptation of "codifying faith in rules and instructions as did the scribes, the Pharisees, and the doctors of law in the time of Jesus."
In an interview last week, Cardinal Kasper said the opponents of change wanted "ideological warfare" at the synod. "When they attack me, their real target is not me but rather the pope himself," he said.
Observers believe a move to help Catholics get easier annulments, instead of opting for divorces, could help diffuse the row
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