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SeanF1989
Guest
Say for example a married couple divorce but never re-marry or have any relationships with another person.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Not as far as I can tell.Say for example a married couple divorce but never re-marry or have any relationships with another person.
Divorce does not mean one can not receive the Eucharist, remarriage does.
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Big_Feet
Guest
This is my understanding, as well.
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MtnDwellar
Guest
Although there may be an innocent party, divorce is a grave matter. Divorce claims to break the marriage vow. Marriage vows are permanent. Intentionally breaking the vow is sinful.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Divorce does not break the marriage vows.
Remarriage breaks the marriage vows.
Remarriage and/or entering into another relationship is independent of divorce.
I can see cases where divorce could be sinful, that goes for almost every act that we do. That is to say that anything we do can be sinful, it all matters on the circumstances and the individual involved.
Objectively speaking, divorce (without remarriage) is not a sinful act in and of itself.
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OraLabora
Guest
The vows of a valid marriage cannot be broken. The Church does teach that civil divorce may be obtained in cases where necessary to protect the rights and or safety of a spouse and or children, say from an abusive spouse. That is not necessarily sinful and may in fact be necessary.
An invalid marriage can of course be annulled, as there was no sacramental marriage to begin with.
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Kucjen
Guest
Yes divorce is a sin.
The respondants above me are confusing the state of being civilly divorced with the action of obtaining civil divorce. It is not a sin to be in a state of civil divorce (assuming you were divorced against your will). It is a sin to seek and obtain divorce willfully. Each spouse in a marriage has the right to the companionship of the other, and seeking civil divorce is, among other things, seeking to deny their spouse this right.
It is really quite simple, as Our Lord himself said: “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”
The respondants above me are confusing the state of being civilly divorced with the action of obtaining civil divorce. It is not a sin to be in a state of civil divorce (assuming you were divorced against your will). It is a sin to seek and obtain divorce willfully. Each spouse in a marriage has the right to the companionship of the other, and seeking civil divorce is, among other things, seeking to deny their spouse this right.
It is really quite simple, as Our Lord himself said: “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.”
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Kucjen
Guest
This is false. By undertaking civil divorce, one deprives their lawful spouse of the rights that lawful spouse has to the companionship of marriage, and that is an objective mortal sin.
Now it is true that it is possible to be dispensed from common life with one’s spouse for a very few grave reasons, but that does not make divorce objectively moral neutral generally.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Yet as pointed out above the Church acknowledges that divorce is at times necessary.
Divorce is not a bar to the reception of the Eucharist, so if it is a sin, it is venial at best.
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Kucjen
Guest
This is simply untrue. The Church acknowledges that separation is at times necessary. Civil divorce is never morally necessary. (It may be necessary as a civil matter for reasons pertaining to civil legal rights, etc., but that is of no concern to the Church)
False. Having been divorced against your will is not a bar to the reception of the Eucharist. Seeking and obtaining a divorce, without grave cause and dispensation, is an objective mortal sin.
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Just curious. Can you point to where these teachings are found in Church documents?
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Kucjen
Guest
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Friar_David_O.Carm
Guest
Thank you.
You have pointed out a contradiction in your statements though.
You said;
2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.
As well as all the other paragraphs you listed.
Seeking and obtaining a divorce is not necessarily wrong. The one seeking and obtaining the divorce may be the innocent victim of it.
I think this issue is best left in the hands of the one’s getting divorced and their pastor/spiritual director.
You have pointed out a contradiction in your statements though.
You said;
Yet the Catechism says;
2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.
As well as all the other paragraphs you listed.
Seeking and obtaining a divorce is not necessarily wrong. The one seeking and obtaining the divorce may be the innocent victim of it.
I think this issue is best left in the hands of the one’s getting divorced and their pastor/spiritual director.
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Kucjen
Guest
I should point out as well that civil divorce has no effect on the rights of the spouses to the companionship of the other and a life in common. If, for example, a husband and wife are legitimately separated due to the fact that the husband is a habitual drunkard and gets violent every time he drinks, then if this husband is successfully treated for his alcoholism and, having ceased all consumption of alcohol, remains sober and responsible for some extended period of time, thus proving that the circumstances permitting the separation (or even civil divorce) no longer exist, then he has the right to return to the companionship of his wife and the common life with her, and she has the moral obligation to return to common life with him.
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Kucjen
Guest
No. you are misunderstanding the catechism. This paragraph concerns someone whose spouse seeks and obtains a civil divorce against their will. That person, whose spouse obtains a civil divorce, is what is meant by an “innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law”. The person seeking the civil divorce is never an innocent victim of divorce. They may well be an innocent victim of abuse, or adultery, or something else that leads them to seek a civil divorce, but they are not an innocent victim of the divorce itself.
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Bookcat
Guest
No…it can actually be a mortal sin.
Yes there can be certain “needful” legal divorces to sort things out…
But when it is sinful…yes it can be a mortal sin.
The fact that person who is divorced is not barred from Holy Communion does not mean that they did not commit a mortal sin at the time of divorce (I am not saying by the way that everyone who gets divorced is committing a mortal sin…) --they may have and need to confess it prior to Holy Communion -if they did.
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Bookcat
Guest
They may be seeking a morally permitted “legal divorce” for the sake of say sorting out custody etc. Just because someone seeks a civil divorce does not mean per se that they are sinning.
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MtnDwellar
Guest
Where did the posts go? A few hours ago there were posts that quoted from the Catechism and other sources describing why divorce is a sin.
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MtnDwellar
Guest
Anyway. Here is one source: archden.org/tribunal/documents/divorce.htm
The Catechism of the Catholic Church Defines Divorce
Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other until death. Sacramental marriage is the sign of the covenant of salvation, to which divorce does incredible injury. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery. If a husband, separated from his wife, becomes involved with another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery; and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself.[2]
Furthermore, the Catechism states that divorce is immoral because “it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.”[3]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church Defines Divorce
Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other until death. Sacramental marriage is the sign of the covenant of salvation, to which divorce does incredible injury. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery. If a husband, separated from his wife, becomes involved with another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery; and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself.[2]
Furthermore, the Catechism states that divorce is immoral because “it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.”[3]
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couponfit
Guest
2382, 2384, and 2385 says it is a moral offense to Divorce. 2383 and 2386 explain when Divorce is necessary and not a moral offense.Where did the posts go? A few hours ago there were posts that quoted from the Catechism and other sources describing why divorce is a sin.
2382 The Lord Jesus insisted on the original intention of the Creator who willed that marriage be indissoluble.174 He abrogates the accommodations that had slipped into the old Law.175
Between the baptized, "a ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death."176
2383 The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law.177
If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense.
2384 Divorce is a grave offense against the natural law. It claims to break the contract, to which the spouses freely consented, to live with each other till death. Divorce does injury to the covenant of salvation, of which sacramental marriage is the sign. Contracting a new union, even if it is recognized by civil law, adds to the gravity of the rupture: the remarried spouse is then in a situation of public and permanent adultery:
If a husband, separated from his wife, approaches another woman, he is an adulterer because he makes that woman commit adultery, and the woman who lives with him is an adulteress, because she has drawn another’s husband to herself.178
2385 Divorce is immoral also because it introduces disorder into the family and into society. This disorder brings grave harm to the deserted spouse, to children traumatized by the separation of their parents and often torn between them, and because of its contagious effect which makes it truly a plague on society.
2386 It can happen that one of the spouses is the innocent victim of a divorce decreed by civil law; this spouse therefore has not contravened the moral law. There is a considerable difference between a spouse who has sincerely tried to be faithful to the sacrament of marriage and is unjustly abandoned, and one who through his own grave fault destroys a canonically valid marriage.179
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