Divorce in Catholic Teaching

Some of the people on this site right now, have either been divorced, or are children of divorced parents - so there's no need to describe the pain that divorce in Catholic families creates. This is why the Catholic Church is one of the world's last institutions teaching that marriage is a permanent and unbreakable covenant.

The Catholic Church understands marriage as a lifetime covenant (sacred pact) between a man and a woman that involves mutual self giving and openness to children. In this light we can understand why divorce in Catholic lives is devastating; the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

1650 "Today there are numerous Catholics in many countries who have recourse to civil divorce and contract new civil unions. In fidelity to the words of Jesus Christ - 'Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery' the Church maintains that a new union cannot be recognized as valid, if the first marriage was."

No fault divorce in America has had a number of unintended consequences, including the impoverishment of women and children, high rates of delinquency for children raised in single-parent homes and the rise of the homosexual rights movement and gay marriage.

Marriage is the best incubator of healthy, well-adjusted children. Divorce is one of the most effective ways to ensure that children will be deeply wounded for life. The permanent separation of parents destroys the one arrangement that children have rightly assumed to be permanent. Once a child witnesses his parents' divorce, he gets the clear message that 'all bets are off' in this life.

Men and women who say they are getting a divorce "for the children," are deluding themselves. Parents who love their children, will not get a divorce even if their marriage provides little personal satisfaction or peace. This is tough love, for certain, but we must stop divorce and regain the idea of marriage as a covenant we freely made with our spouse and God. Remember, Christians divorce without Jesus Christ's approval, and Christians must always strive to do the will of our Lord.

Discover how the Church helps Catholics whose divorce was against their will.