Catholic annulments look to many to be a simple Catholic divorce. Divorce says that the reality of marriage was there in the beginning and that now the reality is broken. “Annulment” means a ruling by a Church court that a union between a man and a woman, even if it began with a Church wedding, is not a valid marriage because it fails one of the traditional tests, such as a lack of genuine consent or a psychological incapacity to undertake the obligations, or unwillingness of one of the spouses to have children.

Francis states in his preface, on September 8, 2015, to the Latin-rite decree that he is partly making the changes to the annulment process on the suggestion of the bishops at the 2014 synod, who he says “requested more rapid and accessible processes.”

Pope Francis has substantially and significantly altered the process for those seeking annulments of marriages in the Catholic church, eliminating sometimes lengthy and redundant judicial procedures and empowering local bishops to make judgments on their own in “particularly evident” cases.

In his homily for Monday, September 7, Mass at St. Martha’s House, concelebrated with the Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, Francis spoke again about the Armenian massacre which took place a century ago

Pope Francis made an extraordinary appeal on Sunday, September 6, asking every parish and Catholic community across Europe to house one of the tens of thousands of refugee families crossing the continent. Christian hope, the pontiff said, is "combative" and requires concrete action.

Pope Francis has made an extraordinary appeal to every single Catholic parish and community across Europe, asking each to house at least one of the tens of thousands of refugee families risking death to migrate to the continent from the Middle East.

Since the publication of the photo of Aylan Kurdi, the dead Syrian refugee toddler found on the beach in Turkey, the world has directed its attention to the refugee crisis in Europe. What has been the reaction in the Arab world to the crisis given that many of the people seeking to escape to Europe are fleeing from Syria and Iraq?

Arab criticism has been directed at the wealthy Gulf countries who have not absorbed even one Syrian or Iraqi refugee.

In a virtual audience aired on US television network ABC on September 4, Pope Francis explained the spirit in which he is preparing for his Apostolic Visit to America from 22 to 27 September. The World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia will be a key moment of his trip. The Pope spoke via satellite with immigrants and various individuals who have experienced social unease. “I want to help you along your life’s journey”.

The time has come for His Holiness Pope Francis to hold an extraordinary emergency meeting in the Vatican with invitees from all the Middle East heads of Christian communities–church a and laity–along with the foreign ministers of the United States of America, Europe, and the Middle East. The meeting should have one agenda: the present and future existence of the Middle East Christians in countries such as Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan, with a precise timetable and hopeful outcome.

The death of a child from a sinking boat off the Turkish coast has moved the whole world, but lest we forget, thousands more have already died in Syria’s war. The refugee problem must be addressed but so do the causes that have led to this tragedy, namely Mideast wars, funding the Islamic State group, and proxies acting on behalf of regional and world powers.

Reuven Rivlin was received in an audience in the Vatican today, during which, Francis said “the challenge is to unite”. The two also discussed the role of religious leaders and the problem faced by Christian schools.

"Dear passengers, our plane has touched down in Amman, you are safe." That's what happened a year ago when a Royal Jordanian airliner landed at Amman International Airport, carrying the first batch of the Iraqis from Mosul and other areas of Iraqi Nineveh who left their homeland, their properties, and their history to come to this beloved homeland, sharing with its citizens their security and stability.

A year ago has passed. Based on the statistics, some 8,000 displaced Iraqis have arrived in Jordan. They managed, at least, to preserve their faith and their lives.