Deposit of the Faith: Did Jesus Allow Divorce?

The Pharisees questioned Jesus when he taught on the permanence of marriage:

Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” (Matt. 19:3–8; cf. Mark 10:2–9; Luke 16:18)

Thus, Jesus re-established the permanence of marriage among his followers. He raised Christian marriage to the level of a sacrament and taught that sacramental marriages cannot be dissolved through divorce. This was part of Jesus’ fulfillment (or perfection) of the Old Law of which he said, “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them”(Matt. 5:17).

An Exception to the Rule?

Some Christians hold that Jesus made an exception to the rule of permanence of marriage when he said that “whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery” (Matt. 19:9; cf. Matt. 5:31–32.) The word translated as “unchastity” here is the Greek word porneia (from which the word pornography is derived) and its literal meaning is debated among Scripture scholars. Full treatment of this topic is beyond the scope of this article, but suffice it to say here the Catholic translation of the so-called "exceptive clauses" of Matthew 5:32 and 19:9 as "unless the marriage is unlawful" (i.e., invalid) is a good translation, although it is not a faithful word-for-word translation.

The word used in Greek is πορνεία (porneia), which means anything related to prostitutes and sexual immorality (wantonness, uncleanliness, impure thoughts, immodesty, bestiality, incest, etc.)  However, in Matthew 5:32 and 19:9, πορνεία takes on a restricted meaning of incest or anything else that impedes the validity of any marriage (so-called diriment impediments).

Jesus’ and Paul’s constant and forceful teaching about the permanence of sacramental marriage as recorded elsewhere in Scripture makes it clear that Jesus was not making an exception in the case of valid, sacramental marriages. The constant teaching of the Catholic Church attests to this as well.

It is important to note that in Jesus’ teaching about marriage and divorce, was concerned with the presumption that divorce actually ends a sacramental marriage and enables the spouses to remarry.

He said to his disciples, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery” (Mark 10:11–12). But a legal civil divorce cannot be presumed to end a sacramental marriage (e.g., divorce intended only to legally separate the spouses is not necessarily evil, it is purely to untangle legal requirements, if any.)

Paul’s teaching agrees with this: “To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband)—and that the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Cor. 7:10–11). Paul understood that divorce is a terrible thing, yet it is sometimes a reality. Even so, divorce does not end a sacramental marriage.

Sacred Tradition also testifies to this as St. Jerome summarizes the Church's teaching from the beginning, in his usual direct way:

“So long as a husband lives, be he adulterer, be he sodomite, be he addicted to every kind of vice, if she left him on account of his crimes, he is her husband still and she may not take another” (Letters 55:3 [A.D. 396]).

The Catholic Church still today understands that separation and even civil divorce that does not presume to end a sacramental marriage is sometimes necessary (e.g., in the case of an abusive spouse). But such actions simply cannot dissolve the marital bond or free the spouses to marry others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

The separation of spouses while maintaining the marriage bond can be legitimate in certain cases provided for by canon law. If civil divorce remains the only possible way of ensuring certain legal rights, the care of the children, or the protection of inheritance, it can be tolerated and does not constitute a moral offense. (CCC 2383)

That being said, the Church clearly teaches that divorce does not—indeed cannot—end sacramental marriage. “A ratified and consummated marriage cannot be dissolved by any human power or for any reason other than death” (Code of Canon Law 1141). Only death dissolves a sacramental marriage.

Paul’s writings agree:

Do you not know, brethren—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during his life? Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. (Rom. 7:1–3)

Thus far our discussion of the permanence of marriage has concerned sacramental marriages—marriages between baptized Christians. What about marriages between two non-Christians or between a Christian and a non-Christian (also called “natural marriages”)?

Paul taught that divorce of a natural marriage is not desirable (1 Cor. 7:12–14), but he went on to teach that natural marriages may be dissolved in certain circumstances: “If the unbelieving partner desires to separate, let it be so; in such a case the brother or sister is not bound. For God has called us to peace” (1 Cor. 7:15).

Accordingly, Church law provides for the dissolution of natural marriages in certain circumstances as well:

"A marriage entered into by two non-baptized persons is dissolved by means of the Pauline privilege in favor of the faith of the party who has received baptism by the very fact that a new marriage is contracted by the same party, provided that the non-baptized party departs." (CIC 1143--code of canon law for the Latin Rite--the abbreviation CIC is from the Latin title of the Code: Codex Iuris Canonici)

Marriages not yet ratified through consummation are treated similarly:

For a just cause, the Roman pontiff can dissolve a non-consummated marriage between baptized persons or between a baptized party and a non-baptized party at the request of both parties or of one of them, even if the other party is unwilling. (CIC 1142)

Catholic Divorce ?

Annulments are sometimes mistakenly called “Catholic divorces.” In reality, annulments do not presume to end marriages at all, but simply recognize, after sufficient investigation, that a marriage never existed in the first place. If a marriage never really existed, then there is nothing to dissolve. But in all practicality, at least in the USA, it is a "Catholic Divorce" or is being abused as such. The official Church will deny it, but marriage has been treated so poorly in annulments, that it is scandalous.

If any friends have an annulled marriage, and remarried, we just need to trust in God to work it all out. Until the Church leadership is reformed, we just don't know. We don't know the details, so it could be valid or not, that is between the couple and God.

The Annulment Crisis in the post Vatican II Church

This has become a worse crisis than the Indulgences scandals in the middle ages. Because marriage is the foundational sacrament for a functioning society. The abuse of annulments is really out of control. Weak bishops will not reform the procedure of annulments, and Catholic marriage prep is also very deficient.

The statistics are interesting. In 1968 there were in the U.S. a total of 338 annulments. In 1992 there were no less than 59,030, that is 175 times as many. Another interesting figure. The total number of annulments in the Catholic Church world wide in 1992 was 76,286, which means that no less than 75% of all annulments were from the U.S.A., that is from a little over 5% of the world's Catholic population. Moreover, not only do one in two Catholic marriages here in the States end up with a divorce, but one in five is officially annulled, 90% of the demands for annulment being successful.

The reason I call it a "Catholic Divorce" is that the annulment process is seldom used to rectify a marriage that is questionable, so as to enjoy the purity of the sacrament, but is used to get out of the marriage that has become challenging.

What do these figures tell us about the seriousness of such an annulment processes, especially when the vast majority are granted for purely psychological reasons, namely lack of maturity, as if young age makes one incapable of entering into a life long contract? Could they get out of a house mortgage so easily?

Marriage is a very serious matter and could jeopardize one's soul, if one tried to manipulate it for selfish ends.

In fact, an annulment is not created by the decision of an annulment tribunal. The function of the tribunal is simply to establish beyond any reasonable doubt that there never was a marriage in the first place, that is, that there never was any true exchange of marriage vows.

Consequently, a decision which is not well founded, does not nullify a marriage. It is just an opinion of the tribunal, who can only trust the information they received is accurate and true.  If a person were validly married in God's eyes, but obtained an annulment decision from a tribunal, and then entered into a second marriage, even one blessed by a priest, the second "marriage" would certainly be an invalid marriage. How many thousands of such unions, look on paper to be Catholic marriages, but are not before God?

Even if the tribunal granted a nullity, it is not an infallible decision. It is between the couple and God. If we are to assume anything, we should assume the marriage is valid.

May God bless and protect you and your fidelity to your solemn marriage vows, in the sacredness of this sacrament of the Church, with the sense of true submission to Divine Providence, and the desire to carry your cross in the sometimes difficult problems of marriage. May the Blessed Virgin Mary pray for your perseverance and joy in your marriages, "for better for worse, till death do us part".