Why can't remarriage be pardoned in Confession like all other sins?

[abj3wilson]

Why do people who are divorced and then get remarried have to go through the annulment process in order to take the Eucharist, instead of being forgiven of this sin in reconciliation? Re-marriage after a divorce is adultery, as Jesus explained - but why can someone commit adultery in a marriage and then go to confession, and be able to take the Eucharist, but not someone who is committing adultery through remarriage? Why is The Church so seemingly exclusive on the breaking of the marriage sacrament, when someone who renounces God and breaks their baptismal covenant can just go to confession and be back in communion with the church? My parents are going through the long and complicated process of getting annulments for their former marriages so that they can be in full communion with the Catholic Church, but there is a chance that The Church won’t accept their petitions, and they feel as though they are outcasts. God does not reject or hold back anyone who comes to Him, so why does His Church make remarriage an unforgivable sin sometimes?

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

One of the requirements for a valid Confession is that the penitent have a firm purpose of amendment. In other words, the person must be firm in his or her intent not to commit the sin again. People who divorce and attempt marriage outside of the Church can certainly repent and be absolved. But if they intend to continue to live in a marital way, they intend by that very fact, to continue committing the same sin.

If your parents are willing to acknowledge that they are not validly married to each other and want to stop having relations with each other until they are validly married to each to other, they can be absolved and receive Holy Communion. If they feel like outcasts, they can remedy that if they want to.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.