Pope Francis: Most marriages are invalid, some cohabitations are 'real marriages'

Marriages entered into without the couple's understanding of its lifelong commitment are invalid while some cohabiting couples reflect real marriages, said Pope Francis.

According to EWTN News, the Argentine pope gave these as answers to a layman's question on the crisis of marriage during the question and answer session after the Diocese of Rome's pastoral congress Thursday, June 16.

Francis largely blamed today's "culture of the provisional" for the nullity of most sacramental marriages where couples fail to fully understand what they're getting into.

The pope said, "The great majority of our sacramental marriages are null. Because they say 'yes, for the rest of my life!' but they don't know what they are saying."

The following day, the Vatican revised the pontiff's comments from "the great majority" to "a portion."

"They don't know that it's indissoluble, they don't know that it's for your entire life. It's hard," said Francis.

He pointed out that the provisional culture permeates in almost all aspects of life, including priestly and religious life. He illustrated such culture in a story he recounted where a young man thought of entering priesthood but only for 10 years.

Another issue surrounding marriages that Pope France pointed out is the lack of marriage preparation. Francis also recalled how he forbade shotgun marriages as Archbishop of Buenos Aires whenever spouses were only forced into the sacrament because of the bride's pregnancy.

On the issue of cohabitation, Francis noted observing fidelity in such cases and said that a marriage-related superstition usually scares off the male partner from wanting to get married right away.

"They have the grace of a real marriage because of their fidelity," the pope said about cohabiting couples.

Mary Rose Verret, who runs a marriage preparation program "Witness to Love: Marriage Prep Renewal Ministry," believes there's no rush for cohabiting couples to get married just to build a family.

"Don't push them to get married. Accompany them, wait with them, be a witness to them, but don't just push them to get married," Verret advised, as reported by Crux.