VATICAN – Implementation of Pope Francis' abbreviated process for declaring the nullity of a marriage got off to a slow start, Vatican statistics showed, but his encouragement for making the annulment process free for petitioners fared better.

VATICAN – Marriage is a sacrament not only for the bride and groom, but for the entire Catholic Church, because it proclaims that "love is possible," Pope Francis said.

BUCKFASTLEIGH, England – Holy Communion is exclusively for Catholics in a state of grace and not something to be shared between friends like beer or cake, said a former senior adviser to two popes.

OTTAWA – More than half of Canadians think marriage is unimportant, according to a new Angus Reid poll. That stark statistic has defenders of traditional marriage a little troubled.

WASHINGTON – Royal wedding fever has caught on in many places, but it has a particular soft spot at Immaculate Heart Middle School and High School outside Los Angeles, the school Meghan Markle attended from seventh to 12th grade.

The German bishops' conference has published a document containing key points for marriage preparation based on Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation, "Amoris Laetitia."

VATICAN – The changes in canon law Pope Francis made to ensure that marriage annulment cases were handled more quickly, more pastorally and with less expense mean that some changes should be made in the way church law is taught, said the Congregation for Catholic Education.

VATICAN – The German bishops are not the only bishops in the world to propose or adopt pastoral guidelines for allowing an Anglican or a Protestant married to a Catholic to receive the Eucharist under certain circumstances.

VATICAN – Pope Francis has asked German bishops to come to Rome to discuss pastoral guidelines for possibly allowing some non-Catholics married to Catholics to receive the Eucharist, the German bishops' conference said.

Promises, promises.

As the Vatican prepares for an important Synod of Bishops on youth, an American organization has released a study that says young people who reject the Church typically fall into one of three categories: the injured, the drifters or the dissenters.

Men and women contemplating a vocation to the priesthood, consecrated life or marriage should not be afraid because God wants only for them to experience the joy that comes from serving others, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – While societies must find a way to overcome the subjugation of women, pretending there are no differences between men and women or even using technology to change a person's sex is not the answer, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN CITY – Four theologians specializing in marriage and family life are studying Vatican archival material with a view of telling the whole story of how and why Blessed Paul VI wrote his encyclical Humanae Vitae on married love.

My wife and I, in our 40th year of married life, are renewing our vows this month at a special Mass in the Marian chapel of our home parish at London’s St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica.