Pope Francis Marries 20 Couples

In the first papal ceremony of its kind in 14 years, Pope Francis presided over the marriage of 20 couples at the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Sunday.

Before this,  Pope John Paul II had presided over a group wedding in 2000.

Some of the couples were already cohabiting and one of the brides also had a child from an earlier relationship.

The Pope was asked to marry 40 people belonging to different social backgrounds, who represented modern couples, the BBC reports. All the couples were from Rome.

Sex outside marriage is considered to be a sin by the Vatican. However, Pope Francis has exhibited great tolerance on many issues compared to his predecessors and this is another instance of the growing open-mindedness within the Vatican. He stressed that the Church must be a forgiving one.

Francis compared families to the "bricks that build society" in his speech. The pontiff went on to say that marriage "is not an easy road, it's sometimes a contentious trip, but that's life. It's normal that couples fight. That always happens, but don't end the day without making peace, even a small gesture is enough," ABC News reports.

This ceremony comes barely three weeks before a meeting of Catholic bishops from around the world to discuss the issues of marriage, divorce and contraception.

According to the Associated Press, a Catholic is allowed to remarry in the Church only if the first marriage is annulled - which is a declaration that the initial union never existed, TIME reports.

Many rank-and-file Catholics have asked the Vatican to allow divorced faithful people who remarry to receive Communion. But, the Vatican has been firm stating that only if remarried Catholics forsake sex can they receive Communion.