“The mat-
rimonial
covenant,
by which
a man and
a woman
establish between themselves a part-
nership of the whole of life, is by its
nature ordered towards the good of
the spouses and the procreation and
education of offspring; this covenant
between baptised persons has been
raised by Christ the Lord to the
dignity of a sacrament” [Catechism
of the Catholic Church (CCC) 1601].
Thus, any valid marriage between
two baptised people is a sacramental
marriage and, once consummated,
cannot be dissolved except by death.
Jesus, therefore, taught that if anyone
so married divorces and remarries,
that person is living in perpetual
adultery, a state of mortal sin.
He said, “Every one who divorces
his wife and marries another com-
mits adultery, and he who marries a
woman divorced from her husband
commits adultery” (Luke 16:18; cf.
Mark 10:11-12).
Most protestants often quote those
other words of Christ in the same
chapter, “Whosoever shall put away
his wife, except it be for fornication,
and shall marry another, commits
adultery” as justification for divorce;
but it is plain that Christ’s statement
in this context permits not a divorce
but a separation. It is not a disso-
lution of the marriage bond, but a
putting away of the guilty party; for
elsewhere our Lord declares that
“He that marries her that is put away
from her husband commits adultery”
(Luke 16). Saint Paul commands
that the wife shall not depart from
her husband, “and if she departs,
she should remain unmarried, or
be reconciled with her husband” (1
Corinthians 7).
St. Paul also declared that “a
married woman is bound by law to
her husband as long as he lives. . .
. Accordingly, she will be called an
adulteress if she lives with another
man while her husband is alive”
(Rom. 7:2-3).
This applied, of course, only to
sacramental marriages those between
baptised people. For mar¬riages
involving an unbaptised party, a dif-
ferent rule applied (1 Cor. 7:12-15).
In the midst of the Greco-Roman
culture, which allowed for easy
divorce and remarriage, the early
Church Fathers proclaimed Christ’s
teaching on the indissolubility of
marriage—just as the Catholic
Church does today in our modern,
secular, easy-divorce culture (cf.
Catechism of the Catholic Church
1614-1615). Other denominations
have modified their teachings to
accommodate the pro-divorce ethos
that dominates modern culture,
but the Catholic Church preserves
the teaching of Jesus and the early
Christians.
While their ex-spouses are alive,
the only time that a baptised couple
can remarry after divorce is when
a valid sacramental marriage never
existed in the first place. For exam-
ple, for a marriage to be contracted,
the two parties must exchange valid
matrimonial consent. If they do not,
the marriage is null. If the competent
authority (a diocesan marriage tribu-
nal) establishes this fact, a decree of
nullity (commonly called an annul-
ment) can be granted, and the parties
are free to remarry (CCC 1629). In
this case there is no divorce followed
by remarriage in God’s eyes because
there was no marriage before God in
the first place, merely a marriage in
the eyes of men.
If, however, the parties are genuine-
ly and sacramentally married, then,
while in some cases there may be
good reasons for them to live apart
and even to obtain a legal separation,
in God’s eyes they are not free to
remarry (CCC 1649).
This is not a commandment of
men, but one that comes directly
from Jesus Christ. As Paul said, “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).
Fortunately, God will ensure that
the sacramentally married have the
grace necessary to live out their mar-
riage vows and either stay married
or live continently. The sacrament
of matrimony itself gives this grace.
Whenever we face a trial, God
ensures that we will have the grace
we need. As Paul elsewhere says, “No
temptation has overtaken you that is
not common to man. God is faithful,
and he will not let you be tempted
beyond your strength, but with the
temptation will also provide the way
of escape, that you may be able to
endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13).
As the following quotations from
the early Church Fathers illustrate,
they also recognised the seriousness
of Christ’s teaching regarding the
indissolubility of marriage.
Council of Elvira: “Likewise, wom-
en who have left their husbands for
no prior cause and have joined them-
selves with others, may not even at
death receive Communion” (Canon 8
[A.D. 300]).
“Likewise, a woman of the faith [i.e.,
a baptized person] who has left an
adulterous husband of the faith and
marries another, her marrying in this
manner is prohibited. If she has so
married, she may not receive Com-
munion—unless he that she has left
has since departed from this world”
(Canon 9).
Basil the Great: “A man who mar-
ries after another man’s wife has been
taken away from him will be charged
with adultery in the case of the first
woman; but in the case of the second
he will be guiltless” (Second Ca¬non-
ical Letter to Amphilochius 199:37
[A.D. 375]).
Ambrose of Milan: “No one is
permitted to know a woman other
than his wife. The marital right is
given you for this reason: lest you fall
into the snare and sin with a strange
woman. ‘If you are bound to a wife,
do not seek a divorce’; for you are
not permitted, while your wife lives,
to marry another” (Abraham 1:7:59
[A.D. 387]).
“You dismiss your wife, therefore, as
if by right and without being charged
with wrongdoing; and you suppose it
is proper for you to do so because no
human law forbids it; but divine law
forbids it. Anyone who obeys men
ought to stand in awe of God. Hear
the law of the Lord, which even they
who propose our laws must obey:
‘What God has joined together let no
man put asunder’ ” (Commentary on
Luke 8:5 [A.D. 389]).
Pope Innocent I: “The practice is
observed by all of regarding as an
adulteress a woman who marries a
second time while her husband yet
lives, and permission to do penance
is not granted her until one of them is
dead” (Letters 2:13:15 [A.D. 408]).
Christian marriage, to be stable and
permanent, needs to be built upon
the foundation of an unconditional,
mutual covenant commitment that
will not allow anything or anyone “to
put asunder” the marital union estab-
lished by God. To accept this Biblical
view of marriage as a sacred covenant
means to be willing to make total,
exclusive, continuing, and grow-
ing commitments to our marriage
partners. Such commitments are not
easy or trouble free. Just as our cove-
nantal commitment to God requires
obedience to the principles embod-
ied in the Ten Commandments, so
our covenantal commitments to our
marriage partners demand obedience
to the principles of the Ten Com-
mandments which are applicable to
our marriage relationships.
There is no other way to enter into
the joys of Christian marriage than
by assuming its covenantal obliga-
tions. When we commit ourselves to
honour our marriage covenants of
mutual faithfulness “till death do us
part”, then we experience how God
is able mysteriously to unite two
lives into “one flesh”. Honouring our
marriage covenant is fundamental to
the stability of our family, church and
society.
