Italy: Divorce Italian style may get easier

Rome, 23 Feb. (AKI) - An Italian parliamentary committee on Thursday recommended making divorce in the overwhelmingly Catholic country easier. Much easier.

The Lower House Justice Committee said the separation period should be cut to one year from three years before qualifying for a divorce. Married couples with children would have to wait two years.

"Reducing the time for a separation prior to a divorce...makes all Italians freer to make decision about their future," said committee member Anna Paola Concia.

Before divorce was legalized in 1970, estranged Catholic couples would have to submit themselves to an arduous annulment process to get the Church to basically say the marriage never happened.