{"id":23206,"date":"2010-05-03T20:41:00","date_gmt":"2010-05-04T01:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=23206"},"modified":"2020-06-05T20:43:35","modified_gmt":"2020-06-06T01:43:35","slug":"what-do-you-think-about-the-catholic-view-of-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-the-catholic-view-of-divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"What do you think about the Catholic view of divorce?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>I read your web site today concerning divorce and the Bible.\u00a0 Clearly, God considers divorce a serious matter, possibly a sin. However, for years Catholics had strict rules about divorce and remarriage.\u00a0 It seems that Catholics were unfairly targeted as being too unforgiving or strict when it came to the laws of marriage.\u00a0 Actually, the Catholics were correct in their thinking about the laws of marriage and divorce.\u00a0 My question is do you agree with the Catholic viewpoint on divorce? And do you think if you divorce and remarry that you will be doomed in hell because of your sin, or do you feel God will judge you according to your circumstances?<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<p>According to the Catholic Encyclopedia:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The Catholic doctrine on\u00a0divorce may be summed up in the following propositions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In Christian marriage, which implies the restoration, by Christ Himself, of\u00a0marriage\u00a0to its original indissolubility, there can never be an\u00a0absolute\u00a0divorce, at least after the\u00a0marriage\u00a0has been consummated;<\/li>\n<li>Non-Christian marriage can be dissolved by\u00a0absolute\u00a0divorce under certain circumstances in favor of the\u00a0Faith;<\/li>\n<li>Christian marriage before consummation can be dissolved by\u00a0solemn profession\u00a0in a religious order, or by an\u00a0act\u00a0of papal authority;<\/li>\n<li>Separation from bed and board (<em>divortium imperfectum<\/em>) is allowed for various\u00a0causes, especially in the case of adultery or lapse into infidelity or heresy on the part of husband or wife. &#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[New Advent, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.newadvent.org\/cathen\/05054c.htm\">Divorce (in Moral Theology)<\/a>&#8220;]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>To a Catholic, a marriage does not begin until consummation (sex). According to God, a marriage begins with a covenant (the wedding vows). &#8220;<em>Yet she is your companion and your wife by covenant<\/em>&#8221; (Malachi 2:14).<\/p>\n<p>In the Scriptures, there is no distinction between a Christian and non-Christian marriage in regards to its survivability. Two Christians, knowing God&#8217;s laws are to jointly work at making a marriage last. A non-Christian is not motivated by God&#8217;s teachings, yet it doesn&#8217;t make marriage any less real (I Corinthians 7:12-16).<\/p>\n<p>Roman Catholics teach that a marriage between two Catholics cannot be ended for any reason. Jesus states, &#8220;<em>And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery<\/em>&#8221; (Matthew 19:9). Fornication, thus, is a grounds for divorce that allows the faithful party in marriage the right to remarry.<\/p>\n<p>Paul also teaches that divorce might occur, though it is strongly discouraged. &#8220;<em>Now to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord: A wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife<\/em>&#8221; (I Corinthians 7:10-11). If a divorce (assuming not for fornication) does occur, then it doesn&#8217;t leave the couple the right to remarriage.<\/p>\n<p>I conclude that the Roman Catholic stance on divorce differs in significant ways from what is found in the Bible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: I read your web site today concerning divorce and the Bible.\u00a0 Clearly, God considers divorce a serious matter, possibly a sin. However, for years Catholics had strict rules about divorce and remarriage.\u00a0 It seems that Catholics were unfairly targeted as being too unforgiving or strict when it came to the laws of marriage.\u00a0 Actually,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[167,1599],"class_list":["post-23206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-divorce","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":43031,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-trying-to-figure-out-if-my-marriage-is-causing-me-to-be-an-adulterer\/","url_meta":{"origin":23206,"position":0},"title":"I&#8217;m trying to figure out if my marriage is causing me to be an adulterer","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am a 46-year old baptized, unconfirmed, non-practicing Roman Catholic. My wife is a 43-year old unbaptized divorc\u00e9e. My wife previously married a non-practicing Catholic in a civil ceremony many years ago. A short time after their marriage, she had a one-night stand. Sometime later her husband became\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37720,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/am-i-sinning-by-seeing-a-woman-who-still-lives-with-her-husband-though-she-says-they-are-separated\/","url_meta":{"origin":23206,"position":1},"title":"Am I sinning by seeing a woman who still lives with her husband, though she says they are separated?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 10, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm seeing a woman who lives with her husband but is separating and has no relationship with him. She stays together with him for the kids' sake, but this has been going on for two years. Am I committing a sin? I honestly believe her that they are not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25151,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-are-some-proper-activities-for-a-divorced-woman\/","url_meta":{"origin":23206,"position":2},"title":"What are some proper activities for a divorced woman?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 6, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a divorced Catholic.\u00a0After 40 years of what I thought was a good marriage, my husband abandoned me for another woman.\u00a0I stay within all the guidelines of the Catholic church and feel 'safe' with activities within the church.\u00a0I still act in every way as married since I don't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36475,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-law-of-marriage-and-divorce-that-jesus-taught-for-the-church-or-universal\/","url_meta":{"origin":23206,"position":3},"title":"Is the law of marriage and divorce that Jesus taught for the church or universal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My wife last husband wanted to divorce her on irreconcilable differences. He changed his mind and said to her he wanted to work things out, she refused and wanted to proceed with the divorce because of the abuse and adultery, he also had another child outside their marriage. They\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-as-a-baptist-be-in-a-relationship-with-a-catholic\/","url_meta":{"origin":23206,"position":4},"title":"Should I, as a Baptist, be in a relationship with a Catholic?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Baptist in a relationship with a Catholic.\u00a0 I don\u2019t agree with a lot that her family does and it seems like I am an outcast because of my religion. Is there any advice that you can give me or links to where I can read on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":45605,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/shouldnt-the-divorce-decree-mention-sexual-unfaithfulness\/","url_meta":{"origin":23206,"position":5},"title":"Shouldn&#8217;t the divorce decree mention sexual unfaithfulness?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I wrote to you years ago concerning my ex-wife, who divorced me for desertion while I was stationed in another country while in the military. She has since passed away. I've been a widower for years now and I've met a lady in the church. She has had two\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23206\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}