Marriage & Divorce

[HagiaSophia]

A canonist weighs in on remarks recently by Cdl. Pompedda which were mis-reported or distorted by some secular journalists to sound as if the church had changed her views – he (the canonist) sums up the church’s position.

"…If Cdl. Pompedda said that divorce is not necessarily sinful, he’s right. The Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 2383 makes the same point: “If civil divorce remains the only way of ensuring certain legal rights…it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense.” That important distinction (which proves the cardinal’s point) does not make the CCC pro-divorce, does it?

1. If the Spanish Jesuit to whom the cardinal is said to be responding said that “divorced persons who remarry are not excommunicated”, he’s right too. I can’t prove a negative, but take it from me, there is no canon that excommunicates divorced and remarried persons. True, there used to be particular legislation applicable only in the United States that imposed such a penalty, but that penalty was lifted some 30 years ago (See Q. 83 in my book). That does not mean that typical divorced and remarried persons should consider themselves free to approach the Eucharist: they still find themselves at odds with 1983 CIC 915 regarding objective grave sin (a point I hope the Spanish Jesuit considered).

Our Lord’s teaching in Matthew 19 has been debated since ancient times, but it seems that two fundamental points about the divorce prohibition stand out: not everything that looks like divorce is wrong, and, remarriage after divorce is what really gets Our Lord’s ire. Moreover, St. Paul’s authorization of what became known as the “Pauline Privilege” (1 Cor. VII) connotes an acceptance of divorce under circumstances having nothing to do with underlying matrimonial invalidity. Cdl. Pompedda’s remarks on these points, as I understand them, fall squarely within the bounds of orthodoxy and good canon law."

canonlaw.info/2006/01/cardinal-pompedda-on-divorce.html