At present the Church teaches that Catholics can only remarry if their first marriage is declared invalid by a tribunal - a process called an annulment.
This current process has been criticised by some for being complicated, costly and unrealistic for many Catholics.
Divorce is not recognised within the Church, which believes that those who divorce and remarry outside of the church are still considered to be married to their first partner and living in a state of sin, in which they are not allowed to receive sacraments such as Holy Communion.
Speaking in Rome, Pope Francis' unveiled a new fast-track procedure that can be used when both spouses request an annulment. The procedure allows couples to prevent evidence which might make a more drawn out annulment investigation unneccessary, for example proof of an affair.
The fast-track procedure will also allow a single archdiocesan bishop to be the judge of an annulment, when a three-judge tribunal is not possible, or to delegate the handling of the cases to a single priest-judge with two assistants.
Formerly, a three-person tribunal would have to adjudicate an annulment process, however this kind of panel may not always be immediately available, making the process longer.
Pope Francis has also removed automatic appeals in the annulment process to make it quicker.
The ponfiff also called for annulments to be free, saying that all Catholics have a right to seek justice from the Church.
This is aimed at providing Catholic couples access to annulments in poorer parts of the world, or places where the Catholic Church does not have the resources or manpower to have fully functioning tribunals.
The Holy Father finished by saying the Church should take into account that ignorance of the faith can be a reason to declare a marriage invalid.
These changes, coming into effect in the near future, come one month before the Synod on the family, where various issues such as homosexuality and the place of remarried couples in the Church will be debated.
Listen to Brendan Thompson from Catholic Voices speaking to Des Busteed on Premier's News Hour:
