"I am saddened to note that the reform, after more than four years, remains far from being applied in most Italian dioceses," Pope Francis, the bishop of Rome, told other members of the Italian bishops' conference on Monday.

Francis issued the streamlined annulment process in September 2015. It went into effect December that year to coincide with the launch of the Jubilee of Mercy.

The process was enacted with two legal documents issued under the pope's own authority.

One is the Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus ("The Lord Jesus, a meek judge"), which handles modifications in the Latin Rite's Code of Canon Law.

The other is the Mitis et Misericors Iesus ("Jesus, meek and merciful"), which deals with changes for Eastern Catholic Churches.

The changes include strengthening the local bishop's role, dropping automatic appeals in obvious cases of annulment, and ensuring the process is free of charge.

In his speech to Italian bishops on Monday, Francis called for the "full and immediate application" of the documents, saying the process should be fast, free and characterised by "closeness" to families in difficulty.

"Closeness to wounded families means that judgement, as much as possible, is in the local dioceses without delays and unnecessary prolongation," which will require a "conversion of structures".

"We cannot allow the economic interests of some lawyers or the interest in personal power of some judicial vicars (to slow down the process)," he said.

Source

• Catholic News Service
• The Dialog
• Crux Now
• Image: The Dialog

On Aug. 12 he met the 20 women, all of whom have suffered severe physical violence and live under protection, who are cared for at the "Pope John XXIII Community" in Rome.

Pope Francis has met with members of the community at the Vatican on several occasions.

The women present at the meeting are from all over the world, six being from Romania, four from Albania, seven from Nigeria, and one each from Tunisia, Italy and the Ukraine.

The average age of the women is around 30 years.

A Vatican communique giving details of the visit stressed that the visit is a concrete sign of the Pope's repeated criticism of human trafficking, which he has called "a crime against humanity" and "a plague in the contemporary body of humanity, a wound in the flesh of Christ."

The general manager of the community, John Paul Ramonda, the chaplain, Don Aldo, two street workers and the apartment manager were also present at what was the Pope's eighth act of mercy, for his "Mercy Friday" initiative.

Pope Francis' most recent visit for the Jubilee of Mercy took place July 29 in Poland during World Youth Day, when he offered silent prayer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and visited sick children at the pediatric hospital of Krakow.

A month before, in June, Pope Francis visited two communities of priests - the "Monte Tabor" community, which consists of eight priests suffering from various forms of hardship, and the Diocese of Rome's "Casa San Gaetano" community which houses 21 elderly priests, some of whom are sick.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: BBC.com