Many people have been asking me about divorce in the Catholic church. There is great misunderstanding and misinformation about the Church's teaching on divorce. Even lifelong Catholics sometimes don’t have the facts straight.
Fiction - Divorce is a sin. Automatically!
Fact- The Church doesn't teach that getting divorced is a sin. For example, a husband who is abandoned by his wife may have done nothing wrong. The same may be true of a wife forced to leave an abusive husband to protect herself.
Fiction - A person who is divorced may not receive Holy Communion.
Fact - Divorce does not bring automatic excommunication. People who are divorced may receive the sacraments, including the Eucharist, unless they have remarried without having had the previous marriage annulled.
Fiction - An annulment is a Catholic divorce.
Fact - There's no such thing as a Catholic divorce. At a Catholic wedding, the state and the Church declare the couple is married. (That's why they need a marriage license as well as a priest.) A divorce is a civil act that dissolves the legal marriage. An annulment, on the other hand, says there never was a sacramental marriage in the first place. After examining the situation, the Church declares something stood in the way of there ever being a marriage.
Fiction - The Church says the children from a marriage that has been annulled are considered illegitimate.
Fact - This simply isn't true. All marriages are recognized by the state and therefore all children produced from this civil union are considered legitimate. One may be married in the eyes of the civil authorities, but not in the eyes of God.
I hope this answers some of the many questions.
7 comments:
If two non-Catholics are married in a non-Catholic church, is it considered a sacrament? How about if they are married at the Justice of the Peace?
If they are both baptised Christians yes to both questions.
So is communion in other churches considered the same as the Roman Catholic Eucharist?
Fiction - Divorce is a sin. Automatically!
Fact- The Church doesn't teach that getting divorced is a sin. For example, a husband who is abandoned by his wife may have done nothing wrong. The same may be true of a wife forced to leave an abusive husband to protect herself.
Scripturally - the one who seeks divorce sins.
Fiction - A person who is divorced may not receive Holy Communion.
Fact - Divorce does not bring automatic excommunication. People who are divorced may receive the sacraments, including the Eucharist, unless they have remarried without having had the previous marriage annulled.
Scripturally - the one who lives in sin is not pure and therefore must be put out; thus barring them from communion. A little leaven leavens the lump.
Fiction - An annulment is a Catholic divorce.
Fact - There's no such thing as a Catholic divorce. At a Catholic wedding, the state and the Church declare the couple is married. (That's why they need a marriage license as well as a priest.) A divorce is a civil act that dissolves the legal marriage. An annulment, on the other hand, says there never was a sacramental marriage in the first place. After examining the situation, the Church declares something stood in the way of there ever being a marriage.
Scripturally - The pattern of marriage is set. How can then the Church determine there was no marriage? What God has brought together let no man put apart.
Fiction - The Church says the children from a marriage that has been annulled are considered illegitimate.
Fact - This simply isn't true. All marriages are recognized by the state and therefore all children produced from this civil union are considered legitimate. One may be married in the eyes of the civil authorities, but not in the eyes of God.
Scripturally - The pattern of marriage is set. How can then the Church determine there was no marriage? Especially if there are children.
The Catholic Church's view on marriage is inline with the rest of their doctrine that they stand in the place of God on earth. This is contrary to the Bible.
Thomas,
who's interpretation of Scripture are you following?
Scripturally we are all in sin. Should we all be put out?
Marriage is a sacrament. It is up to the church to administer such. A legal marriage can occur without the sacrament being received.
The CC view of marriage is the stongest of any Christian denomination and perfectly inline with Scripture if you properly understand the Bible.
"Thomas,
who's interpretation of Scripture are you following?"
The Scriptures are to be obeyed, not interpreted. The meaning is there and plain for all to see. For that which is 'unclear' or shadowed, the Holy Spirit can teach all things and lead us into all truth.
"Scripturally we are all in sin. Should we all be put out?"
One who is in Christ is no longer slave to sin. Yes we can sin and do sin, but we have the recorse of confession and repentance (driven by the pure Spirit within) to the restoration of our fellowship with Christ and our Christian family. See 1John 1 for more detail. Christ spoke of this with Peter and demonastrated by washing the feet of his followers. One who is washed need not be washed again, but IS clean. Christ goes on to say that there needs to be a habitual washing of the feet - removal of the subsequent defilement from walking in a sinful world. One who is cleansed needs only to wash his feet - it is this washing that allows us to continue in fellowship together and to partake of the Lord's Supper in purity. 1 Corinthians 11 states that a man should examine himself (this would be the washing of the feet) and so let him eat of the bread and drink of thw wine. The warning of doing so unworthily/negligently is also presented in the 11th chapter.
"Marriage is a sacrament. It is up to the church to administer such."
I have yet to find in Scripture the Church administering marriage. If it's there please post. Keep in mind the law pertaining to Israel is just that - it's not Church truth, though there may be many principles and applications therein.
"The CC view of marriage is the stongest of any Christian denomination and perfectly inline with Scripture if you properly understand the Bible."
That's a pretty bold statement, given the belief of many that there exists over 30,000 denominations. You are free to state it, if you can truly back it up.
You said you have yet to find in Scripture the Church administering marriage.
Let me help you. The relationship is sacred because it is a mirror of God's relationship with His people. Christ the Bridegroom and His people-the Bride.
[Isa 62:5] For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
[Wis 8:2] I loved her and sought her from my youth, and I desired to take her for my bride, and I became enamored of her beauty.
[John 3:29] He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full.
[2 Cor 11:2] I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband.
[Rev 19:7] Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready;
[Rev 21:2] And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband;
[Isa 62:5] For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
[Mat 25:1] "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
[John 3:29] He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full.
[Isa 61:10] I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
As for the CC being the strongest on marriage, keep in mind Roman Catholics, do not recognize divorce. A very basic premise is that marriage is so sacred that all marriages between Christians are considered sacramental and valid unless proven otherwise. This means that the marriages between baptized Catholics as well as marriages between baptized Christians who are not of the Catholic faith are equally considered valid and sacramental.
Yet according to Barna conservative Protestant Christians, on average, have the highest divorce rate, while mainline Christians have a much lower rate.
Anthony Jordan, executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention in Oklahoma commented: "I applaud the Catholics," says Jordan. "I don't think we as Protestant evangelists have done nearly as well preparing people for marriage. And in the name of being loving and accepting, we have not placed the stigma on divorce that we should have."
I leave you with this:
Scripture must be understood to be obeyed. I don't rely on myself to do so. I call on thousands if years of study and understand through the Church.
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