Why divorce is forbidden....

…..and always wrong, in fact an impossibility between two Catholics.  From Canon Francis Ripley’s This Is The Faith, pp.344-345 (yes, I know I’ve been hitting this hard of late.  So be it.):

A marriage between baptized persons, which has been consummated, can be dissolved by no human authority whatsoever.  In that case, divorce is absolutely impossible. But the prohibition of divorce is not a specifically Catholic or even a specifically Christian doctrine. It rests primarily on the Natural Law, which binds the whole of humanity. Everything which tends to frustrate the primary end of marriage [procreation] is obviously unnatural. A state of affairs in which married people could separate and remarry at will or by caprice would obviously militate strongly against the proper education of the offspring of the broken marriages. The present-day prevalence of divorce has reduced marriage almost to such a state [And this was written 60 years ago.  Imagine what Canon Ripley would think of not only the state of marriage in our time, but the fact that nearly as many children are now born out of wedlock as in.  And this in the United States!] .  Laws have become lenient, collusion is prevalent, and the very number of divorce cases before the courts makes a proper consideration of them impossible.

But, even though the granting of divorce were restricted to the narrowest limits, it would still be against the Natural Law because of the very fact of the existence of the possibility of the dissolution of a marriage tends to deflect the care of parents from their children, [Is divorce frequently a selfish act for which the children suffer most?] to encourage the parents to practice birth prevention[interesting point - has the divorce culture led to greater use of contraception?  And we know that contraception begets abortion, ergo....] and to be less careful in regard to conduct liable to cause friction between them. [I don't think there is any question this is the case] If the conviction is always there that, whatever happens, divorce is impossible, differences will be glossed over and forbearance and patience encouraged. [I'm sure that some would respond.....but what about cases of abuse, or neglect?  While such cases make up the minority of divorces, by far, they do exist.  In that case, separation is allowed.  But a validly consummated marriage between two baptized Christians can never be dissolved] Moreover, if it is known that the possibility for divorce exists, even in a very limited way, young people contemplating marriage will be less careful in the choice of partner than in the case where they know there is no escape from a contract once it is ratified and consummated.[I think this  may be an increasingly likely factor today] If divorce were allowed for misconduct, it would be practically an encouragement to adultery. [and adultery rates have skyrocketed, especially among women. Some data indicate  married women are not committing adultery more than married men]

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Then, leaving aside the natural law, we have Christ’s clear teaching on the matter from the inspired and inerrant Word of God:

Matt 5:31-32
Matt 19:6
Matt 19:8-10
Mark 10:11-12
Luke 16:18
Rom 7:3
1 Cor 7:10-11

Christ clearly states, and St. Paul confirms, that marriage can never end in divorce.

None of this addresses the issue of annulments, which process is serially abused in this country.

Gotta go!  All day training M-Wed this week!

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