A bride and a groom look at each other during their wedding ceremony. It is the first wedding Pope Francis has performed in his 18-month-old papacy.

A bride and a groom exchange rings during their wedding ceremony celebrated as part of a mass by Pope Francis at St Peter's Basilica on Sunday at the Vatican. Pope Francis married 20 couples on Sunday, some of whom had already lived together and had children, in the latest sign that the Argentine pontiff wants the Catholic church to be more open and inclusive, Reuters reported Sunday.

Pope Francis leads a mass at St Peter's Basilica where he celebrated several weddings on Sunday at the Vatican.

Brides and grooms stand for their wedding ceremony on Sunday. It comes three weeks before a major synod of the Catholic Church will discuss the divisive issues of marriage, divorce and conception. Francis, who is the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, has shown himself more open than his predecessors on the subject of marriage, and has spoken of more realistic attitudes to social problems, raising the issue of broken marriages and abandoned women. Photos: AFP