Church to ease procedures for divorce

THE CHURCH has made it easier for couples that have been separated for a number of years to get a divorce.

According to the Holy Synod, couples whose marriage has broken down and have been living separately for eight years will no longer encounter problems when filing for divorce.

Under normal circumstances, the necessary procedures when filing for divorce could be lengthy, with lawyers involved.

Panayiotis Vasiliou, responsible for dealing with such matters in the Church, told the Mail yesterday that this was being done in order to help couples when a marriage was definitely over.

“We decided that we should make divorce procedures easier after a husband and a wife have been separated for eight years and the marriage is ‘dead’ with no chances of the couple getting back together,” he said.

He said, however, that the phrase ‘automatic divorce’ used was not entirely correct. “This term is not right. We do not simply grant them a divorce immediately. In a normal situation, the case is sent to another ecclesiastic court,” he added.

“Another difference is that there is no need for lawyers to be involved. However, both partners are involved once one of them asks for divorce,” he said.

According to Church records, there are some 1,500 divorces annually.

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