www.theguardian.com/news/2017/oct/27/the-war-against-pope-francis
Francis is a very pure example of the “outer-directed” or extrovert Catholic, especially compared with his immediate predecessors. His opponents are the introverts. Many were first attracted to the church by its distance from the concerns of the world. A surprising number of the most prominent introverts are converts from American Protestantism, some driven by the shallowness of the intellectual resources they were brought up with, but much more by a sense that liberal Protestantism was dying precisely because it no longer offered any alternative to the society around it. They want mystery and romance, not sterile common sense or conventional wisdom. No religion could flourish without that impulse.
They are barking up the wrong tree, and so is the writer of that last sentence.
The article, like so many articles detailing unhappiness from another direction entirely with Francis' predecessor Benedict, attempts to drum up a sense of drama, with its portrayal of 'powerful' cardinals, factions lining up for battle, quotes off the record from terrified snitches, etc.
JRM represents a small group on the looney fringe. The vast majority of RCs are perfectly ok with things as they are and fond of the Pope.
The rich and powerful have always exploited loopholes. When they want to shuck off a wife and remarry, a good lawyer will find some way to prove the first marriage was a mistake, not something entered into in the spirit the church demands, and so it can be wiped from the record – in the jargon, annulled.
This is BS.
Annulment is not a process that requires money apart from a nominal administrative fee, nor is it a question of jargon. There is a standard process involving interviews with the divorced parties (the annulment process does not start until a couple have been divorced, i.e. until the civil aspect of the marriage has been legally ended), written submissions from the parties in answer to a long questionnaire, and written submissions from witnesses in response to more general prompts.
The matter at issue is the canonical validity of the marriage. A canon law judge or tribunal and a 'defender of the bond' take the case and argue its merits. Once a decision has been reached, the case automatically passes to a second tribunal to be appealed. Parties can appeal a decision to the Roman Rota. The judgement that is handed down is that the marriage was or was not canonically valid at the time the parties entered into it.
“The Catholic Church ought to be countercultural in the wake of the sexual revolution,” says Ross Douthat. “The Catholic church is the last remaining place in the western world that says divorce is bad.”
This is an individual trying to tell the RC Church how it should handle a difficult matter that affects millions of Catholics.
In practice the RC church is very often the place where people involved in marriages that are the opposite of life-enhancing, and where children are being exposed to the opposite of how people should treat each other can find a compassionate response that includes advice to divorce, a lift to a battered women's shelter, help finding a divorce lawyer, financial support from a parish when a former spouse fails to provide child support, etc.. If anyone were to take this article seriously, they might imagine droves of people shunned and miserable and grim faced priests pointing them to the door.
I am neither rich nor powerful and I did not need a lawyer to get an annulment after civil divorce. The annulment process was very cathartic and very healing for me after years of a really horrible marriage and divorce. It was also conducted in a completely above board and transparent way, in a very well established and properly conducted process.
That article contrasts with this one:
www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/08/pope-francis-amoris-laetitia-how-the-papacy-tackles-the-key-issues
Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love) runs to 256 pages, in which Pope Francis attempts to address all aspects of modern family life. The document follows a three-year global consultation, including two lengthy summits in Rome attended by bishops from around the world.
Francis has not made any significant changes to doctrine but the language and tone of the document are notably inclusive and gentle. Critically, the introduction says that priests and bishops must use their judgment in considering individuals’ circumstances, indicating that church teaching should not be applied rigidly.
(Sorry for the detour.)