Changes announced by Pope Francis this week aim to fast-track the process of obtaining annulments, with some cases overseen by the local bishop. A leading canon lawyer says they should make it quicker and simpler for Catholics seeking to have their marriage declared invalid Pope Francis’ stated intention in his two apostolic letters, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus for the Latin Church and Mitis et misericors Iesus for the Eastern Churches, is to emphasise the importance of canon law as an instrument for the salvation of souls not by changing the grounds of nullity but by simplifying and speeding up the procedure for examining failed marriages.The Pope comments that he wants to address the pastoral, geographical and moral issues that keep people from following through this way of finding