The spread of the Schism

[Rohzek]

What about the fact that currently the Orthodox Church allows divorce and remarriage for more reasons than adultery? why is there this further departure from even the view we are discussing?

The short answer to this question is that the Orthodox Church views the standard of the fornicationem or porneia clause as basically setting the moral categorical level in which a divorce may occur. In short, the Orthodox Church views this as setting the bar high. And historically speaking, this passes the smell test. The reasons under Roman secular law for divorce were wide and many. The Orthodox Church greatly limited those reasons for divorce to what it deemed to be roughly just as serious if not more as adultery. These include abandonment (which the Council in Trullo discussed in some of its canons), domestic abuse, attempted murder of the spouse, etc. This roughly follows some of what Saint Basil suggested and guided centuries ago.

I should also like to stress that in the Orthodox Church today, getting an ecclesiastical divorce in no way grants permission to remarry. The two are separate. So if someone receives a divorce in the Church, they can still be denied permission to remarry. This often happens in cases where the primary guilty party of a divorce later seeks permission for remarriage. And I personally know of cases where even those who were the innocent party have been denied permission for remarriage. This process is no cakewalk in the Orthodox Church.

 

[Augustine]

What about the fact that currently the Orthodox Church allows divorce and remarriage for more reasons than adultery? why is there this further departure from even the view we are discussing?

The position on divorce and remarriage of the Orthodox Church is actually fairly reasonable, at least much more reasonable than what Card. Kasper has been proposing.

A matter on which the Catholic Church has a much more reasonable position is contraception, at least much more reasonable, scriptural, traditional and patristic than what many in the Orthodox Church have been proposing. Previously we were in agreement with them, but they caved in to the world and departed from Scriptures, Tradition and the Fathers on this matter.

Now talk about departure from the discussion!

 

[Wandile]

At this point I feel like Rhozek and mines discussion is better served privately as we have gone off the mark from the original intention of the OP