  We consider a long diffusive Josephson junction where the weak link is a thin
normal metal (N) - ferromagnetic (F) bilayer (N and F form parallel links
between the superconductors (S)). We show that superconductivity in the weak
link can be described by an effective one-dimensional Usadel equation
containing a "diluted" exchange field as well as a weak depairing term that is
caused by the inherent inhomogeneity of the bilayer. The depairing mechanism
distinguishes the S(N/F)S system from an SFS junction and affects the density
of states of the S(N/F)S junction. It results in the suppression of the minigap
in the spin-resolved density of states. The depairing rate and the minigap are
expressed in terms of geometrical parameters, the Thouless energy and the
effective exchange field. The effective one-dimensional theory can be applied
to various structures with thin inhomogenous links and shows good agreement
with numerical solutions of the original two-dimensional equations. We also
discuss ways to reveal the predicted effect experimentally.
