JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — People across the world are reflecting on how Pope Francis changed their lives, including those who have previously been divorced.
In the Catholic Church, if you’re divorced, the first marriage must be annulled, which can be a lengthy and difficult process. Pope Francis relaxed those rules.
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Channel 2’s Candace McCowan spoke to a Catholic couple who say they waited nearly 25 years to be married in the church because the husband was divorced.
“You didn’t always feel included or validated,” Ken Merlau said. “My first marriage was in a Catholic church. So under Catholic Church rules existing those days, my marriage was still valid unless I made a special procedure to invalidate the marriage.”
For that reason, Ken and Jo Merlau were civilly married for 24 years before being married in the Catholic Church.
“What Francis did, he made us feel welcome,” Jo Merlau said.
Father Daniel Ketter with the Archdiocese of Atlanta explained that Pope Francis didn’t change the Church’s doctrine, just its approach to it.
“There’s a formal process we have in the Catholic church for examining a prior marriage to see if a declaration of nullity can be granted. That process can be onerous, long and taxing,” he said. “Without changing any of the underlying doctrine about how we understand marriage, he tried to streamline and simplify the process so that it would be more accessible for people.”
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Pope Francis also opened the door for those who were divorced or remarried to receive communion.
Emory University Candler School of Theology Professor of Catholic Studies Dr. Susan Reynolds said Pope Francis was all about increasing access.
“He had this beautiful quote in which he said he wants a church for everyone,” Reynolds said.
The Merlau family says that if it were not for Pope Francis, their wedding day might still be a dream.
“We were both Catholics and we were participating in the Catholic Church, raised our son Catholic, but yet our marriage, in a certain way, wasn’t really legitimate because it wasn’t recognized in the Catholic Church,” said Ken Merlau.
Dr. Reynolds said a new pope will have a different approach and a different set of priorities.
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